Stan Lee: ‘Eventually, the World Will Blow Itself Up’
Comic book legend Stan Lee has helped create some of the wildest visions of the future throughout his storied career. But the Marvel honcho wasn’t envisioning a world with Iron Man suits and radioactive spiders during a chat about what’s to come with Steve Aoki in the latest installment of the superstar DJ’s WIRED series, “Neon Future Sessions.”
Though Lee remains floored by the rapid advances in science and technology he’s witnessed over the years, GPS navigation and smart phones haven’t necessarily eased the atomic anxieties that inspired so many of his comics.
“Most of the things I write about, mankind has to be in danger, threatened, terrible things that may happen, and the superhero has to prevent them from happening — that’s what the fans like to hear about,” Lee said. “And I think eventually the world will blow itself up. We’re getting so good at explosives and missiles, and eventually some nut will come along, launch a missile against another country, they’ll throw one back there. And before you know it — poof.”
After cheekily chalking up his pessimism to writing too many comic books, Lee imagined a brighter future filled with self-driving cars and hyper-fast computers that, within 25 years, will be able to accomplish things we can’t even imagine now. “So the future, if we don’t blow ourselves up, the future will be wonderful,” said Lee, adding in a sly Aoki plug. “The neon future, sorry!”
Aoki’s chat with Lee marks the second episode of his “Neon Future Sessions,” which kicked off with an interview with renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil. The web series coincides with the DJ’s latest album, Neon Future.1, which saw release last fall.