Today marks the passing of one of our generation’s most iconic men – Stan Lee. Creator and co-creator of many of the superheroes that we know and love today such as Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Ant-Man and so much more has died at the age of 95. The Marvel universe he created is something that has shaped the face of popular culture and it won’t be the same watching a Marvel movie expecting to see his cameo and not seeing him there.
Thank you, Stan Lee, for giving us a lifetime of marvellous inspiration and worlds of imagination. Excelsior!
Iron Man
Starting this list off strong with one of the earlier films in the Marvel movie empire, Iron Man (the good one) was the debut of Robert Downey Jr.’s, Tony Stark. Stan Lee, was there in style on the red carpet in his signature cameo, playing the Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, complete with velvet smoking jacket and pipe.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Most of Stan Lee’s cameos are hilarious and in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he thinks he can handle Thor’s Argardian liquor, not meant for mortal men. To no surprise, we see him later get dragged off by his friends but he does get to drunkenly utter his famous “Excelsior!” send-off in the process. Fun fact! Stan Lee claims that this was his personal favourite MCU cameo.
Captain Ameria: Winter Soldier
A little bit of light in a moment of dark times for Captain America. This might also explain Stan Lee working as a FedEx delivery man in Civil War. Dammit, Captain, your actions have consequences! Which leads us to…
Ant-Man
The best part of Ant-Man is the overtly excited Latino brother Luis played by Michael Peña. In his recounting of a tale to a friend meeting this chick at a bar. During this fast, funny sequence, Stan Lee drops in as a bartender who has his voice dubbed-over by Peña – “yeah. crazy stupid fine”. Hilarious.
The Amazing Spider-Man
A pretty hilarious moment that just encapsulates’ Stan Lee’s involvement in the Marvel universe. Just there doing his everyday thing as the world swirls around him.
Thor
A short and simple cameo but undoubtedly adorable.
Deadpool 2
In the official trailer for Deadpool 2, there’s a literal shoutout to Stan Lee.
The Incredible Hulk
Remember 2008’s The Incredible Hulk? No? Well, we tried to forget Edward Noron’s green superhero ourselves. Although the cameo on this movie was probably Stan Lee’s best chance at getting his own movie. Here, Lee plays a man who just-so-happens to swig some soda that was accidentally contaminated by Bruce Banner’s Hulk-tainted blood. The scene cuts before we see the effects, but the implication is that after his sip of soda, he then transformed into a Hulk-like creature himself. That would’ve probably made for a better film.
Spider-Man, PS4
A lot of people try and spot Stan Lee in the Marvel movies, but what came as a surprise was his role in Insomniac’s Spider-Man for the PS4. Here he is completely digitised but unmistakably Stan Lee.
The Defenders
I love this trailer by Stan Lee. It’s his superhero ethos on keeping them human and I guess that’s why even though they’re these people that can do amazing things and save the world we can still relate to them.
Spider-Man 3
“I guess one person can make a difference”. Yes, they can. Thank you, Stan.