SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1998)
You never forget your first. I think for a lot of Marvel fans who grew up in the 90's, self included, the final episode of the Spider-Man animated series was their introduction to Stan Lee.
After saving all of reality from Spider-Carnage with his multiversal counterparts, the main Spidey of the series journeys to the world of the powerless Spidey (who I'd like to call Tobey), where he learns of his status as a popular fictional character and meets the man responsible for it. Basically it's our world, and Stan Lee coming face to face with his greatest creation is equivalent to that of Walt Disney meeting Mickey Mouse. The meeting means as much to Spidey as it does to Stan, finally looking forward to a bright future after all the hardships he's faced over the course of the series.
There's also the nice touch of Madame Web, who I would find out long after the series' conclusion that she was voiced by Stan's wife, Joan. Stan and Web's compliments about each other made a lot more sense after that.
THE SIMPSONS (2002)
What, you thought this was going to focus squarely on Marvel? We all know Stan is bigger than that. Of the dozens of celebrity guest appearances the Simpsons has had in its decades spanning history, Stan Lee's appearance in the season 13 episode "I am Furious (Yellow)" surely ranks among the best (and it's one of my favorite episodes of the series in general).
It starts out simple enough with Stan Lee randomly showing up at the Android's Dungeon and giving Bart some creative advice (while also promoting Marvel over DC). You think that would be all, but we cut to some time later and Stan has apparently not left the comic book store, taking the "Marvel over DC" campaign further by crushing Database's toy Batmobile trying to force a Thing action figure to fit. Then you have the cherry on top with one more scene. After Homer is painted green due to one of Bart's pranks and ends up resembling the Hulk, an angry Stan claims he himself is the Hulk and attempts to transform. Comic Book Guy pities Stan but quickly comforts him after he fails. Honestly, the funny part about this scene is Comic Book Guy leads Stan back into the store after saying he wish he could get him to leave. But hey, it's Stan. Who wouldn't want his company?
Stan Lee would make a few more appearances on The Simpsons, including officiating Comic Book Guy's wedding in 2014's "Married to the Blob", but they don't quite top the first time he rolled into Springfield.
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (2007)
With the boom of Marvel movies in the 2000's, Stan Lee cameos became a staple no matter which studio they came from. If a Marvel movie was coming out, there was a 95% chance Stan would make an appearance. I think his cameo as a guest at Reed and Sue's wedding in the Fantastic Four sequel, "Rise of the Silver Surfer", is where they started to actually have more fun with his appearances. Stan Lee, as himself, getting kicked out of a wedding of characters he created is just hilarious. This one still goes down as one of my favorite cameos and I smile every time I watch it.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2012)
It's Stan Lee as a librarian apparently wearing ridiculously loud headphones listening to music oblivious to the destructive battle between Spider-Man and the Lizard. Whether you like the "Amazing" reboot or not, how can you not love this cameo? Also, bonus points for Spidey saving him from being hit by a thrown table.
THE BIG HERO 6 FRANCHISE (2014-2019)
Not many know that Big Hero 6 is based on comics published by Marvel. So as tradition usually allows with Marvel films, Stan Lee does make an appearance. While a portrait of Fred's father uses Stan's likeness, the true cameo comes in the post-credits scene when Fred discovers his father's secret superhero cache and then his father (voiced by Stan) discovers his son's discovery (discoverception?). That alone probably wouldn't have made my list, but the subsequent animated series kept this cameo from being just for laughs.
In the animated series, we learned that Fred's dad is a semi-retired superhero known as Boss Awesome with a regular rogues gallery, some of whom appear to fight the next generation team of Big Hero 6. Stan would voice Fred's dad several times throughout the series' first two seasons. I love the fact that Stan got his own superhero life and I enjoyed it every time he showed up.
The last episode Stan recorded for before his death was "Supersonic Sue", which was dedicated to him. With a third season ordered, I'm kind of hoping Big Hero 6 has an episode that pays tribute to Stan and Fred's dad in some way.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)
For the most part, Stan's cameos are usually as some sort of civilian. That's why I feel his appearance in "Age of Ultron" is a special one. At a celebration party the Avengers are holding with many of their friends in attendance, we see Stan as one of Cap's old war buddies hanging with both him and Thor. It's made even better when he dares to drink a strong Asgardian elixir, messing him up so bad that he has to be escorted out while slurring one of his signature catchphrases, "Excelsior!" Excelsior indeed, Stan. Excelsior indeed.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
So after the emotional turmoil of watching Steve and Tony nearly killing each other, we needed someone to help lighten the mood. Enter Stan "the Federal Express Man" Lee! The combination of Stan's delivery (no pun intended) of "Tony Stank?" and Rhodey's reaction to it make this cameo comedic gold. And Rhodey's right; this is one we won't be forgetting any time soon.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017)
This cameo not only officially introduced the Watchers into the MCU, but it also gave credence to a long running fan theory about Stan's cameos. That theory is that Stan is a Watcher himself, witnessing events across time, space, and the multiverse. Of course, this excludes the times he appears as himself or a specific character. But whether it be MCU, the X-Men films, either Spider-Man series, etc., all Marvel movies/universes he appears in are connected in some way. His cameo in Guardians 2 is basically him on break with his fellow Watchers. There's also the fact that he directly refers to his "Civil War" cameo, despite the fact that delivery man and space man have literally nothing to do with each other and that Guardians 2 takes place two years before that.
SPIDER-MAN (2018)
I didn't play the Spider-Man PS4 game until after Stan's death so his cameo in the game would be the first one I'd see since then. As you'd expect, I got a little emotional when he popped up since it was nice to see him again. Another reason I enjoy this cameo, and I may be reading too much into it, is because it cements Peter and Mary Jane as Stan's favorite Marvel couple. Coincidentally, 2018 also saw Peter and Mary Jane finally get back together in the comics after splitting up way back in "One More Day". So yeah, it was a good year for those two.
VENOM (2018)
When it comes to Sony's 2018 Venom movie, while it still felt unnecessary, it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's not on the level of the MCU of course, but I still found it entertaining. One of the best parts in my opinion was Stan's cameo where he stops Eddie on the street to give him (and Venom) encouragement on his love life. I also didn't see this until after Stan's death, so it kind of felt like Stan talking to Eddie from beyond the grave to me.
It's a very blatant Stan Lee cameo, but it's one that's so meta that I have to bring up the Watcher theory again. Stan observing the events of the movie is the only way this makes sense. I mean, how does he know about Eddie's love troubles when he was nowhere near him and Anne during their conversation or that Eddie has a symbiote? Hell, it's such a strange interaction even Venom has to point it out by questioning "who was that guy?" A legend, Venom. A legend. It's still a memorable cameo though, even if it does lack some logic from a certain view.
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018)
The makers of "Into the Spider-Verse" sprinkled Stan Lee cameos throughout the whole movie like some kind of game of "hide and seek", but his most prominent cameo in the film is always hard for me to get through. Since this was the first of Stan's posthumous cameos, the context of the scene added much more meaning than it intended to. As the city mourns the loss of Spider-Man, fans feel it even more when Stan appears and says "I'm going to miss him." It's like a double punch to the heart.
CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
For the final cameo on my list, "Captain Marvel" marked the first MCU film Stan appeared in posthumously. The loss was still fresh and the film even had a special Marvel Studios intro dedicated to Stan and his cameos. It's a very simple cameo with Stan rehearsing for his part in "Mallrats" when Carol, searching for a Skrull, comes up and pulls it down. Stan smiles and Carol smiles back. Personally, I see Carol's smile as a way of saying "We miss you, Stan." While that wasn't the intention, that's the way I'll always look at it.
In conclusion, happy birthday Stan. We'll never stop missing you.
No comments:
Post a Comment