James Gunn confirms Stan Lee's cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was inspired by Marvel fan theories

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James Gunn got the idea to make Stan Lee work with the Watchers from fan theories online

Stan Lee in Guardians of the Galaxy 2
(Image credit: Marvel/Disney)

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 continued the long MCU tradition of including a Stan Lee cameo. While the Marvel legend usually appeared in a brief, funny scene that has little bearing on the plot, the Guardians 2 cameo was a bit different – it showed that Lee is involved with the Watchers, an ancient species who observe the universe.

This means Lee’s brief appearance in Guardians 2 is actually pretty significant, and draws together all of his cameos. All this time, Lee has been watching the goings-on of the Marvel ‘verse – and Kevin Feige has even confirmed each iteration of Lee seen in his cameos is actually the same person. In the scene, Lee refers to being a Federal Express man – a reference to his Captain America: Civil War cameo – and when the moment is picked up again in an end credits scene, is left behind by the Watchers, despite insisting he has plenty more to tell them.

Also as part of the Facebook Live, Gunn explained more about Lee’s cameo: “I actually read the Marvel fan sites and the Marvel message boards... One thing I found very funny and interesting is the fact that people thought Stan Lee is a Watcher… and that all of these cameos that he’s doing are part of him being a Watcher. So I thought that was one of the greatest things the fans came up with. So Stan Lee as a guy who is either a Watcher or probably a guy who is working for the Watchers was something that I thought was fun for the MCU.”

He also admitted that the FedEx reference doesn’t match the MCU’s chronological order, as Guardians 2 is set before Civil War, despite coming out afterwards. But, he said, it’s an easy plot hole to resolve – Lee probably worked for FedEx more than once.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are returning in their own threequel, and Chris Pratt's Star Lord will also appear in Thor: Love and Thunder. Until then, check out everything we know about Marvel Phase 4. 

Molly Edwards
Molly Edwards
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.