Kevin Smith remembers Stan Lee and how he tried to save his hero

This week, filmmaker Kevin Smith is telling us about his role in the attempted rescue of Stan Lee. He tells us about his friendship with Lee and explains why he called Kim Masters to share his concern about what was happening to Lee following the death of his beloved wife Joan.

Smith and Lee met on Smith’s 1995 movie ‘Mallrats.’ In the film, the heartbroken, comics-loving college student Brodie, played by Jason Lee, is shocked to find himself getting relationship advice from Marvel legend Stan Lee. Smith tells us he was just as shocked Lee agreed to be in his movie in the first place, and shares the one change Lee requested to Smith’s script.

After ‘Mallrats,’ Smith stayed in touch with Lee. When Smith told Masters in 2018 that something bad seemed to be happening, she pulled in reporter Gary Baum, who then wrote an expose about the battle for control of Lee’s life that had emerged after his wife died the previous year.

Smith shares some of his fondest memories of Lee, as well as the heartbreaking story of how he sought to help free Lee, then 95, from the clutches of people who wanted to take advantage of him, only to find himself up against a difficult family situation between Lee and his daughter.