The Absolute Best Movie Cameos That Stan Lee Has Gifted Us With
Stan Lee was in every single Marvel film made -- so we ranked his best appearances.
The king of comics and legendary Marvel publisher Stan Lee has sadly passed away at the age of 95, leaving behind an immense superhero legacy, and a wealth of absolutely iconic Stan Lee cameos in countless films.
Stan Lee is best known as the creator or co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange and almost every other Marvel superhero that you can name. He started working in comics in 1939, and has been the editor in chief, publisher, and chairman of Marvel throughout the years.
As well as being a powerhouse behind the scenes, Stan Lee will also be remembered for his cameos in every single Marvel film. They range from the subtle, to the egregiously bizarre, but it’s going to be sad not spotting him lurking in the back of the next Spider-Man film, like everyone’s famous omnipresent grandfather.
But with so many to choose from (including some real deep-dives), we’ve put together a list of the best Stan Lee cameos from the last thirty years.
— stan lee (@TheRealStanLee) November 12, 2018
The Absolute Best Stan Lee Cameos
#6 – Iron Man
Iron Man is the glorious beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it’s fitting that it starts our list.
This is just a cute cameo because it places the impish sense of humour that Stan Lee’s cameos are known for. In this one he gets mistaken for Hugh Hefner by billionaire playboy superhero Tony Stark.
#5 – Avengers: Age of Ultron
In Age of Ultron, Stan Lee plays a veteran in the party scene at the top of the film — which is honestly the best part of the film. Watching everyone relax and drink and play with Thor’s hammer is just charming.
And speaking of drinking, Stan Lee’s cameo in this film features him playing an ornery war veteran, who drinks some of Thor’s very old and excessively potent liquor, and consequently get carried out of the bar. He also shouts his catch-phrase “Excelsior!”
#4 – Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
One of the worst (or perhaps the worst) Marvel films, The Rise of the Silver Surfer features the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Woman and The Stretchy Nerd. During the nuptials, Stan Lee actually plays himself, and gets rebuffed from the ceremony. It’s all gone very meta!!!!
#3 – Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
Now this is a weird one. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is an animated film, in which Stan Lee makes an appearance as a janitor on the Warner Bros. backlot. It’s an extremely funny and meta film, so it’s no surprise when he jokes that it’s one of his famous “subtle cameos”.
However, it’s also pretty funny because Teen Titans is a DC franchise, Marvel’s ancient rivals.
Stan Lee comes back for yet another cameo in this film, and says the immortal quote:
“I just love cameos!”
#2 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
OK, this is both very heartfelt and potentially meaningful.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we have a scene in which Stan Lee is chatting to some of the Watchers, the mysterious beings who chronicle the history of the Marvel Universe. During the conversation, Stan Lee talks about the time he dressed up as a delivery driver and yelled at Tony Stark, which settles that all of his cameos were actually canonically Stan Lee.
Which is pretty cool.
But there’s also a post-credit scene in which he continues the conversation (in a space-suit) before being marooned by the Watchers. After wondering how he’s going to get home, he also says “I’ve got more stories to tell”.
ENDLESS CRYING.
#1 – The Princess Diaries 2
Look! He’s in The Princess Diaries 2, the best superhero film ever made.
In it, he plays a creep who speaks English badly, because he learned it from the Three Stooges? I dunno.
Patrick Lenton is the Entertainment Editor at Junkee. He tweets @patricklenton.