Stan Lee’s “The Excelsiors” is set to be developed for TV and film by Kartoon Studios, the studio announced Monday. The company, also the controlling partner of Stan Lee Universe, plans to launch the project with a graphic novel published by indie comic publishing label Legible Comics.
The project is being produced by “Batman” film series executive producer Michael Uslan, on board with the DC franchise since bringing the 1989 film to the big screen.
The studio describes the project as “one of the largest initial superhero ensemble creations by the legendary Stan Lee,” featuring a 10-superhero team working for near future corporation “Amaz-Ing Tech LLC.” The team’s name is inspired by Lee’s famed “excelsior” catchphrase. The story is set in a world with global corporations running the world rather than governments (perhaps not too unlike what some see as happening in our own world).
“Stan always told me that the most exciting superheroes could only meet their potential if matched by equally worthy and interesting supervillains,” Uslan said in a statement. “We expect to do Stan justice by not only having extraordinary superheroes but extraordinarily interesting supervillains. This was Stan’s baby, and I fully understand the gravity of overseeing this team to carry forth his vision.”
The project is also set to be a family affair, Uslan notes.
“My son David, who also worked closely with Stan and myself, will help create this universe,” Uslan said. “Our north star is to write these books like Stan is looking over our shoulders.”
“Stan was very proud of ‘The Excelsiors,’ and he was very proud to have his eponymous ‘namesake’ signature, developed by his friend and collaborator, Michael Uslan,” Kartoon Studios CEO Andy Heyward said in a statement. “Stan was proud to take all of his storytelling skills, which he developed over the years of his career at Marvel Comics, and incorporate them into ‘The Excelsiors.’ I have every confidence that Michael will make Stan proud and carry his legacy forward, completing what he started.”
The book’s characters, according to an official description, include:
- X-Otic: “A doctor who extracted superpowers from roots and plants she cultivated as a naturalist”
- X-T: “The only member of ‘The Excelsiors,’ who is an actual extraterrestrial. (He is the great-grandson of the aliens who crash-landed near Roswell’s Area 57 in the 1960’s. He is an alien by birth, raised in utter secrecy by America’s scientists and psychologists who have tried to bring a human element to his nurturing and upbringing)”
- X-Change, a shapeshifter
- X-Hale
- X-Change
- X-Tricate
- X-Isle
- X-Ecutioner, “an almost uncontrollable force of human nature gone amok, controlling wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, only unleashed in last resort emergencies, and otherwise, kept in a titanium self-containment unit”
Kartoon Studios’ projects include continuing Stan Lee’s brand, including “Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Their projects also feature names including Shaquille O’Neal, Jennifer Garner and others.
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