NFTs have already felt the wrath of gamers.
Now, comic book lovers, superhero movie fans, and Marvel aficionados alike are lashing out against NFTs, too.
On Tuesday morning, the late Stan Lee's Twitter account sent out a tweet promoting NFTs of the Indian superhero Chakra the Invincible that will be sold in the coming weeks. The link in the tweet, "chakraverse.io," sends users to a website belonging to Orange Comet, a company that creates NFTs for brands and sports teams.
??"From championing diversity to embracing new tech, Stan was 1 step ahead of the curve," reads the tweet. "To honor his innovative spirit, Stan's 1st Indian hero, Chakra The Invincible, debuts in his own NFT (digital art) collection from 7:30pm PT 12/27-12pm PT 12/29! Sign up: http://chakraverse.io"
The backlash to this promotional tweet being sent from Stan Lee's Twitter account was swift and unforgiving.
"Can't believe Stan Lee came back from the dead just to promote an NFT," replied popular YouTuber Dolan Dark.
"Using Stan Lee’s twitter account to promote an NFT gets you sent straight to hell," tweeted Twitter user @Ter0me.
"The fact they never retired his Twitter after his passing is one thing, but using him to promote something like NFTs is absolutely disrespectful…" said @SuperiorArtemis while sharing a meme quoting Stan Lee's line from his cameo in Spider-man: Homecoming.
"Don't make me come down there, you punk," reads the meme.
Even the official Dictionary.com Twitter account got in on the NFT dunking.
What makes this particular advertisement more distasteful is that it's being promoted as something being done in memory of Stan Lee.
"Honoring what would have been Stan Lee’s 99th birthday on December 28th, we are inviting all of Stan’s fans to celebrate his amazing legacy with us by sharing ownership in a limited NFT collectible around one of his first international superheroes," reads the Orange Comet website.
Stan Lee was the mastermind behind some of Marvel Comics' most beloved superheroes, such as Spider-man, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and X-Men, among many others. He was such a beloved figure in the comic book world that he made cameos in every Marvel Universe film from Iron Man all the way up until Avengers: Endgame.
Sadly, Stan Lee passed away in November 2018 at the age of 95.
NFTs, or non fungible tokens, are basically digital collectibles, usually in the form of digital art. When buyers purchase an NFT, they aren't actually purchasing the actual art but the token that's connected to the art, which gets recorded to the blockchain, basically to prove they "own" the piece on the blockchain.
The NFT market has exploded over the past year along with the rest of thee cryptocurrency industry as buyers look to invest in speculative assets. The digital artist Beeple, for example, sold an NFT of his work at auction in May 2021 for $69 million.
However, NFTs are gradually experiencing more of a pushback from the average internet user.
Critics complain that much of the art made for the purpose of NFTs are quite ugly. Many NFT projects consist of just a few original art assets which are then combined via computer generation to automatically create thousands of "unique" pieces. Some critics find NFTs to be exploitative – basically, NFT advocates are looking to commodify anything and turn everything into a speculative asset like a stock. NFTs are also incredibly bad for the environment, as the majority of the industry is based on the energy-wasting Ethereum network.
According to Orange Comet's website, the Chakra NFT drop will include 6,880 different NFTs at a yet to be determined price. The NFTs will be released on the Polygon network, which is more energy efficient than the incredibly wasteful Ethereum network.
It should be noted that Marvel is not involved with this NFT project. Stan Lee did create Chakra the Invincible, but Marvel was not involved with this particular character.
As NFTs spread into different internet cultures, they seem to meet heavy resistance at every turn. However, just like with the rest of cryptocurrency, there's big money in the form of venture capitalists, brand marketers, and other wealthy techies who will continue to push NFTs where they're generally not wanted.
So, hang in there, true believers. You'll likely be seeing a lot more of NFTs invading your favorite fandoms.
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