On July 31, 2023, the news of Reubens' death came as a shock to documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf, who had spent a year trying to convince him to make the ambitious two-part documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,” now streaming on HBO Max, and over 40 hours interviewing him on camera.

Paul Reubens’s performance as Pee-wee Herman gave fans “license to be weird.” At an underground cabaret, he cheered on his community of renegades.

Comedian Paul Reubens' legendary Pee-wee Herman character introduced fans to a wild fact about Texas' the Alamo in the 1985 film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. In Touch explains how the comedian left his legacy on the landmark amid a new HBO docuseries about the beloved star.

His place in gay pop culture is complicated, particularly by the media circus that surrounded him after the four-season run of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. But with the film, Reubens finally speaks to his own undeniably queer artistic point of view,

Pee-wee as Himself,' a two-part documentary directed by Matt Wolf premiering Friday on HBO, supplies a vivid portrait of Paul Reubens, who receded behind his character.