In today’s world it can be hard to find joy and happiness. We have to find it in the little things every day. Sadly, on November 12, the world lost a man who has brought so much joy and happiness to millions of people. Stan Lee was an icon in the comics industry and even transcended that world. People who aren’t even into comic books know who Stan Lee is.
I’ve decided to pay tribute to Stan by giving you my top six cameos by The Man himself.
As many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will know, part of the fun of watching a Marvel movie is seeing where Stan will pop up next. He has had some wonderful cameos, and these are my favourites:
6. Big Hero 6
Starting at six and working my way to number one, here is the first of the cameos I really enjoyed. This was more of a voice cameo, even though the animation was pretty spot on. It was a fun end credit scene cameo where Stan Lee plays the father of the character Fred (T.J. Miller) and has the following scene with him.
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
One of the top cameos for fans took place in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. With all the fan theories about Stan being an actual ‘Watcher’ from the Marvel comic books, this gave those fans a bit more to salivate over:
4. X-Men: Apocalypse
This one is high on the list because it’s the only cameo Stan was able to film with his wife Joan in the Marvel movies. He and Joan were married for 69 years before she passed away in July of 2017, and this moment is just absolutely fantastic.
3. Fantastic Four (2005)
This scene from Stan was really wonderful as he actually portrayed a character from the comics. He was William ‘Willie’ Lumpkin, whow as the mailman to the Fantastic Four at the Baxter Building. This cameo was not part of the larger MCU, but it was definitely one of my favourites thanks to the specific nod to the comics Stan helped create… the first family of comics.
2. Mallrats
This isn’t a traditional comic book film, but the movie dealt with a lot of comic book related topics, so we’ll count it! The cameo is more of an extended one than a quick flash in the pan. As I am a big Kevin Smith fan as well as a Stan Lee fan, this cameo always stood out to me and really showed off a great side of Stan.
Note: This particular video is definitely NSFW due to language.
1. Spider-Man 3
Number one on my list of Stan Lee cameos actually comes from one of the worst Spider-Man films (or Marvel films in general), in my opinion. This cameo gave us great words of wisdom and of course one of Stan’s most famous lines… “…’nuff said.” Sure, it would have been great if it was ‘Excelsior’, but since this is a Spider-Man movie, the line was perfect and brilliant.
Honourable Mentions
What list would be complete without a few honourable mentions? Not one of mine, that’s for sure. So here are my honourable mentions for cameos by Stan Lee. My first mention goes to Thor and the scene where they are trying to pull Mojlnir from the ground. Stan drives a truck that is trying to pull the hammer out with a chain wrapped around it.
My second honourable mention goes to The Amazing Spider-Man simply because it was funny to see the dichotomy of scenes taking place. Stan is listening to some classical music while Lizard and Spider-Man fight in the background. Check it out as Stan avoids being clobbered without even knowing it.
Finally, my last honourable mention goes to the television show, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. During the first season, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Jemma (Elizabeth Henstridge) are posing as father and daughter and staging a scene. Then along comes the great Stan Lee with this cameo, and more words of wisdom yet again.
Final Thoughts
I had the pleasure to meet the man known as Stan ‘The Man’ Lee, and he was wonderful, sweet and charming. He loved his fans, and would pretty much do anything to put a smile on their face. At 95 years of age, he lived his life the best way he knew how. He will be missed by millions and millions of fans worldwide. This list is my own, but Stan has been in MANY cameos and I am sure you may have different ones.
With that in mind, here is a video containing cameos from Stan that go back as far as 1989:
So what are your favourite Stan Lee cameos? Did any of yours make my list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
