Zack Stentz

Biography:

Zackary Lowell Stentz is an American screenwriter, producer, journalist, novelist, and teacher, widely recognized for his collaborations with former writing partner Ashley Edward Miller on several Marvel projects.

A native of Fort Bragg, California, Stentz was born to a father of German and Irish heritage and a mother of Lebanese descent, describing himself as half-Lebanese. He has also spoken publicly about having Asperger syndrome, noting that two of his three children are autistic.

Stentz earned a journalism degree from UC Santa Cruz and went on to write and edit for publications such as The Economist, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Entertainment Weekly. In the early 1990s, he was involved in environmental activism with Earth First!. He later wrote about culture, television, and books for Metro Silicon Valley and the Sonoma County Independent (now the North Bay Bohemian). In 1997, publisher Dan Pulcrano selected him to lead the rebranding and launch of The Metropolitan, a San Francisco monthly magazine.

Shifting into screenwriting, Stentz partnered with Miller from 2000 to 2015, beginning with Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. Together, they co-wrote Agent Cody Banks (2003), the Marvel film Thor (2011), and X-Men: First Class (2011). They also contributed to the early development of what became Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Stentz later wrote and produced Rim of the World (2019), a Netflix science fiction adventure film directed by McG.

His television work includes writing and producing for Andromeda, Fringe, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and The Flash. He also developed an upcoming animated series based on a major franchise for DreamWorks, Universal, and Netflix. Stentz currently has multiple projects in development, including TV shows with Skydance Television, Warner Bros., and HBO, as well as the Warner Bros. DC superhero film Booster Gold and a planned remake of Big Trouble in Little China at Fox.

In addition to screenwriting, Stentz co-authored the young adult novel Colin Fischer and is at work on another novel titled Nevermore. He also teaches screenwriting in both the U.S. and China, having shared his expertise as a guest of the Wutianming Foundation in Tianjin and Wanda Studios in Beijing, where he guided young Chinese writers on crafting American-style action films.