A new documentary promises to provide an unfiltered look into the final years of Marvel legend Stan Lee’s life. Titled Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, the project, helmed by filmmaker Jon Bolerjack, has been in secret development for years.

The trailer for the film has now been unveiled alongside a crowdfunding campaign to help complete the documentary, which Bolerjack has already personally invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars” into.

Bolerjack’s camera followed Lee across the globe, from comic conventions to Hollywood premieres, capturing both heartwarming and troubling moments. The footage, compiled over years, shows an exhausted Lee while being carted around for appearances.

It also exposes alleged misconduct within Lee’s inner circle, though the trailer does not name individuals.

Bolerjack, a lifelong comic book fan and a film school-trained documentarian, first met Lee a decade ago while pitching a reality show. That idea never materialised, but the relationship led to Bolerjack becoming part of Lee’s entourage, where he witnessed firsthand the relentless schedule that took a toll on the ageing legend.

“I grew to look at him as a friend, as family, and I really wanted to be there to advocate for him,” Bolerjack says, acknowledging that he broke the “cardinal rule” of documentary filmmaking by forming a personal bond with his subject. “I was doing the best I could.”

Despite Lee’s well-maintained public persona as an eternally upbeat ambassador of comics, Bolerjack says that the Marvel co-creator approved the idea of a documentary about his struggles.

“I spoke to him about this at length, even towards the very end of his life. A lot of things have happened to him, but I didn’t get the real sense that he felt shame about it,” Bolerjack says. “I think he wanted it out there to be that sort of warning.”