Captain Marvel opens with a heart-wrenching tribute to Stan Lee, with the usual Marvel Studios logo given a Stan-themed twist. The late, legendary creator then makes one of his customary cameos in the movie itself, as well, and it turns out to be one of the most meta we’ve ever had. It involves Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, who passes Stan on a train reading a script titled Mallrats while practicing his lines.
This is a genius scene, as the movie’s set in 1995 and in the real world, that was the year Stan had a cameo in Kevin Smith’s cult comedy Mallrats – yup, Lee was cameoing long before Marvel movies caught on in the 21st century. It’s a great joke for followers of the comic book legend’s career then, but it also must have meant a lot to director Kevin Smith, one of the biggest comic book fans in Hollywood.
Sure enough, Smith took to social media yesterday to pen a heartfelt message about how the cameo reduced him to “a blubbering wreck.” Lee’s role in the film also led him to realize that this suggests he exists in the MCU – so does that mean he survived Thanos’ apocalyptic finger snap in Avengers: Infinity War? Over to you, Russo brothers.
Just saw @captainmarvel. I am a blubbering mess. After a lifetime spent referencing the movies, the movies just referenced me! Many thanks to @MarvelStudios and to my friend @TheRealStanLee for the shout-out! But if I’m now part of the @Marvel Universe… Did I survive The Snap? pic.twitter.com/S560n3mQFl
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 8, 2019
Things get even more touching from there, as who should reply to Smith’s tweet but Captain Marvel herself. Brie Larson responded to the director’s message with a simple heart emoji:
💖
— Brie Larson (@brielarson) March 9, 2019
This likely isn’t the final cameo of Stan’s in a Marvel movie. With production on both Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home completed before his trafic passing last November, we expect him to turn up and brighten the screen in those films, too. Marvel president Kevin Feige has decided not to outright confirm this, however, as he says he knew how much Lee liked to surprise people.
Tell us, did you enjoy Stan Lee’s cameo in Captain Marvel? Have your say in the comments section below.
