Zayn Malik Reveals Backstory of the Rare ‘Iron Man’ Comic He Received from Stan Lee

Malik joked that his One Direction bandmates were “pissed off” that he received such an iconic gift

Zayn Malik is revealing the story behind the gift that’s made him the envy of comic book nerds everywhere!

During an episode of Hot Ones on Thursday, the “Pillowtalk” singer, 31, told host Sean Evans that the rare, early-edition Iron Man comic book that was personally signed to him by Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee was a wrap gift to him from documentarian Morgan Spurlock at the end of a production.

The documentarian, 53, worked on the 2013 film One Direction: This Is Us about Malik’s former band One Direction and the 2011 film Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope with Lee, who died in 2018 at the age of 95.

Malik said that Spurlock was close to each member of One Direction and gave them all personal gifts when he ended work on their film, aware that the “Steal My Girl” artist loved comic books.

Malik described the gift as “amazing” adding that he still has it hung up on a wall in his house and loves to brag about it to his “geeky, nerdy friends who love comic books.”

“They definitely want that comic book from me. None of them will have it at any point while I’m alive so they’ll have to wait awhile,” he joked.

According to Malik, his One Direction bandmates were also jealous of the collectible.

“I remember the boys being super…pissed off about it too, because they didn’t get as good gifts and [Morgan] gave me this signed Stan Lee comic. I remember being like, ‘this is f—ing sick,” he recalled.

On Wednesday, the “Love Like This” singer announced that his fourth solo studio album Room Under the Stairs will be released on May 17 on Mercury Records.

The first single “What I Am,” will be available to stream on Friday.

Last week, Malik teased his new album with a short clip on Instagram. “I think the intention behind this album fully is for the listener to get more insight on me personally as a human being,” he said in the video.

“My ambitions, my fears… and for them to have a connection with that,” Malik added. “And that’s why it’s so raw, you know?”

He concluded: “There’s just me writing this. I didn’t want anyone else to be in between me and the music, and the music and the people listening to it.”

Malik also teased what appeared to be a new song snippet, “If I told you I loved you, would you say that it’s f—ed up?”