Join The Community
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The cameo: When Tom Holland's Spider-Man is going about his crime-fighting business in Queens, he accidentally attacks an innocent bystander who he thinks is stealing a car, but is actually just trying to leave without disturbing his neighbours.
Is Stan the man? The car alarm goes off, everyone's yelling, and suddenly Stan Lee appears as one of the annoyed neighbours, hanging out of a window yelling at Spider-Man to keep it down. He catches the eye of another neighbour across the street who tells him it's good to see him and the pair strike up a flirtatious conversation before Spidey swings away.
Read more: pider-Man: Homecoming ending explained - 6 questions we need answered
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
The cameo: You know that spiffy new haircut Thor is rocking in Thor: Ragnarok? That's the work of Stan Lee's cameo character, a slightly shaky-handed cyber barber. He may not say much, but he can knock out a decent Supercuts special. Plus, he recreated it on Twitter!
Is Stan the man? The cameo is silly and fun, just like the rest of the movie, but Stan Lee will be least exciting special guest star this time around. Right at the beginning of the movie we get appearances from (spoiler alert) Matt Damon, Sam Neill, and Luke Hemsworth, so Stan seems like the least surprising surprise celebrity. Still, I can only hope at the ripe old age of 94 people are asking me to cameo in their superhero films.
Read more: Thor: Ragnarok ending explained - 5 questions we need answered
Black Panther (2018)
The cameo: When T'Challa, Nakia, and Okoye go undercover in a casino to try and capture Ulysses Klaue, Stan Lee pops up as a high-rolling gambler who steals T'Challa's winnings when he heads off to take out the bad guys.
Is Stan the man? Yeah he is! This is a pretty awesome cameo. Not only is Stan Lee suited and booted for his Black Panther appereance, but his cheeky demeanour as he promises to 'take care' of T'Challa's winnings for him really sells the cameo.
Read more: Black Panther ending explained - 6 questions we need answered
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
The cameo: Stan Lee cameos as the bus driver taking Peter Parker and his friend Ned to school when the space-doughnut carrying Thanos’ henchmen arrives in New York. "What’s the matter, you never seen a spaceship before?" he says, hilariously unfazed by the scenes of destruction unfolding before him.
Is Stan the man? Of course! The line is a nice nod to his previous cameos in the MCU where he’s been witness to multiple alien spaceships and invasions. Could the line hint at all the cameos being connected? Is Stan Lee really a Watcher as fan theories have suggested? Or is this just the latest in a long line of day jobs for the comic book legend.
Read more: What does the Avengers: Infinity War ending mean? And 8 other questions we have
Deadpool 2 (2018)
The cameo: Deadpool 2's Stan Lee appereance is not so much a cameo as a wonderful homage to the man behind all things Marvel. As X-Force (woefully) drop in on a convoy carrying Russell, you can see a full-sized colorful mural of Stan Lee’s face adorning a building. Exelsior!
Is Stan the man? While this isn’t the first time Stan Lee has appeared in the Deadpool franchise (he, bizarrely, was a strip club DJ in the original), this is definitely the far more tasteful of the two. Unlike most Stan Lee cameos, it doesn’t completely drag you out of the action either.
Read more: "Mostly just a carbon copy" – Here’s what the critics are saying about Deadpool 2
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
The cameo: Stan Lee’s about to get in his car when, in the fallout of a chase involving Ant-Man and the Wasp trying to get back Hank’s lab from Sonny Burch and company, it’s shrunk down to miniature size by a stray shrinking disc.
Is Stan the man? While many would just brush off the occurrence and chalk it up to the age of superheroes roaming the streets, Stan Lee has a very different explanation. “The ‘60s were great, but now I’m paying for it,” Lee deadpans, as he’s probably already planning his Uber route home. Don’t take drugs, kids.
Read more: What does the Ant-Man and the Wasp ending mean? And 7 other questions we have
Venom (2018)
The cameo: At the end of Venom, Eddie Brock finishes a conversation with his ex-fiancée Anne and as he's walking away, he talks to his Symbiote about getting her back. That's when a man walking his dog comes up to him and says: "Don’t give up on her. Either of you."
Is Stan the man? Yes. Stan Lee is always the man. But this cameo in particular is pretty cool because it reveals that he knows that Venom is alive and well and living inside Eddie. Something which Eddie decides to hide from everyone else after the finale. How did he know? He's the legendary Stan Lee of course.
Read more: Venom ending explained - everything you need to know after watching
Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018)
The cameo: About halfway through Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2, the characters stumble across official fansite Oh My Disney as part of their online quest. Familiar Disney faces are everywhere, including Stormtroopers, Disney Princesses, and Marvel favourites. But it’s the avatar of one bespectacled elderly gentleman that’s likely to catch your eye and put a lump in your throat.
Is Stan the man? This is a minimal visual nod, with Stan not actually uttering a line, but even in miniature avatar from, the icon is unmistakeable. What was already a warm fan-friendly moment gets added emotional resonance because of the fact Stan Lee died just days before the film’s release.
Captain Marvel (2019)
The cameo: When Captain Marvel is pursuing a Skrull disguised as a human early on in the film, she follows him onto a train packed with commuters. While walking the aisle looking for anyone suspicious, her eyes fall on a man intently reading a script and reciting the words: "trust me, true believer". She locks eyes with him and it's the one and only Stan! Giving him a knowing smile (which was apparently added after Lee died), she moves on and continues her search for the Skrull.
Is Stan the man? Yes, so much yes. Not only is this the first Stan Lee cameo after the icon sadly died last year, but it's one of the best Captain Marvel Easter eggstoo as it references Lee's cameo in '90s movie Mallrats in which he talks to Brodie about his love life. Just as he's leaving, he tells him, "trust me, true believer," the line he was practicing on the train when Captain Marvel walked by.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The cameo: Again, we can't really detail this cameo without revealing big spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, so stop reading right now if you haven't seen it. Seen it? Okay. About halfway through the movie, Lee finally gets the Marvel de-ageing treatment as one of the beatnik hippies that Howard Stark questions Tony about during his and Cap's trip to a 1970's SHIELD facility. "Make love, not war", shouts Lee, as he zooms past the camera in a car with a "Nuff Said" bumper sticker and 420 license plate. What happened to "Excelsior", Stan?
Is Stan the man? Of course he is. For a final cameo, it's perhaps not as elegiac as we'd like, but it is absolutely in keeping with the fast-paced chuckles that Stan has always given us throughout his decades of on-screen appearances. Plus, to see him as a young man in the 70's, which would have been the height of his comic book career, is unexpectedly moving.
Read more: Avengers: Endgame will be Stan Lee’s final MCU appearance according to Joe Russo
