Stan Lee is obviously a talented man.  He’s had a hand in the creation of some of the most enduring characters in the Marvel Universe, like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and even some from DC Comics as well.

That being the case, why is it that he can’t seem to do anything lasting outside of the auspices of Marvel?  For instance, he’s in the past few years done a series of films under the “Stan Lee Presents” moniker, like ‘Mosaic,’ ‘The Condor’ and ‘Lightspeed.’

Here’s the trailer for ‘Mosaic’…

followed by ‘The Condor.’

The odd thing is that I not only haven’t seen any of the aforementioned films, though I am curious in a somewhat cursory fashion.  Part of me not particularly caring is due to my suspicion that Lee is a bit out of tune with today’s audiences.

Though I think he may have found a way to be taken more seriously, which is to work in live action, and to use creative people who’s at the top of their particular field.

For instance, his latest project, “Annihilator” is being written by  Tony Gilroy, who’s credits writing credits includes the screenplays for all the ‘Bourne’ films, among many others.  That being said, the premise of “Annihilator” sounds a cheesy take on Captain America (whom Stan Lee actually didn’t have a hand in creating), though in this case we have a Chinese expatriate who gets involved with a super soldier-type program that gives him abilities that happen to complement his pre-existing martial arts skills.

Which is always a good thing when you’ve been a part of a super soldier program, I’d like to think.

I shouldn’t be quite so snarky, considering that I suspect that the only thing that stopped the Batman films from looking like David Goyer’s “Blade: Trinity” was the presence of Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan expanding upon Goyer’s concepts.