BURBANK, Calif. — Sources close to the matter have confirmed that an early build of the AI likeness of Stan Lee is running amok on Zoom’s cloud video call platform, shouting spoilers for Insomniac Games’ upcoming Wolverine game. 

In a series of clips that have since gone viral, Marvel’s longtime creative lead can be spotted in the background of calls in virtual form, acting out a variety of roles and letting the cat out of the bag on the hotly anticipated title.

“Excelsior!” Fake Lee shouts in one such video, interrupting a recorded call wearing a gardening hat and appearing to water a real plant in a gameplay programmer’s kitchen. “These succulents look like they belong in Genosha, where our old pal Logan crosses paths with the Menacing Magneto!”

Reached for comment, AI slopsmith contractor Greg Jurgens could only speculate as to what went wrong. 

“We think Stan’s showing up unexpectedly like he did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and trying to hype fans up like he did back in his publishing days,” Jurgens explained. “We thought Marvel would explain the concept of nondisclosure to him, and I guess they thought we were going to do it.” 

Industry journalists got a glimpse of the issue up close during Q&A time following a virtual press event last week. While level designer Chloe Gutierrez wowed reporters with a look at some of the game’s detailed environments, Hologram Stan was spotted portraying a caricature artist outside conference room windows, doodling away at a sketch of Jean Grey lovingly embracing Logan-clone Laura “X-23” Kinney. 

“DLC Pack 1,” Lee had scrawled at the top of the sketchpad. 

Smilin’ Stan’s cameo spoilers have put new strain on Insomniac’s relations with executives both at publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and at licensing partner Marvel Games. Fans noted that Marvel hastily removed an embedded developer blog video from its marketing pages after Stan mysteriously appeared over gameplay footage after it was uploaded. 

“Face front, true believers!” Stan exclaims, standing overlaid in front of a Trask Industries warehouse appearing late in the game. “This is where Deadpool gets vaporized trying to teabag a severed sentinel’s head. You don’t wanna miss it!”

At press time, studio representatives indicated they believed they had contained AI Stan Lee for good, though a new AI Wolverine over their shoulder looking for beer in the breakroom seemed to indicate that he dies at the end of the game.