Once known primarily as the founding father of Spider-Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four and so many other great Marvel characters, Stan Lee is now considered the undisputed king of cameos.
From Captain America: Civil War and The Defenders to this year’s Thor: Ragnarok, not a Marvel project goes by without some cute nod to the all-around industry legend – be it in the form of a well-placed poster or actual appearance. And you’ll be pleased to know that Stan Lee has already gone ahead and filmed cameos for five upcoming MCU movies: Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled sequel, Avengers 4, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Black Panther, and the forthcoming Ragnarok, which is said to include Lee’s funniest stinger to date.
It makes sense, too, given all of those named projects are simmering in various stages of development. In fact, the only notable absentee is Captain Marvel, though it’s understood newly-appointed directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck plan to get the cameras rolling early next year.
And at the risk of sounding morbid, at 94 years of age, Stan Lee isn’t getting any younger, so it’s wonderful to hear that Marvel plans to immortalize him with a series of well-planned cameos to help honor his inimitable contribution to the comic book industry. Without the likes of Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz et al. the Marvel Cinematic Universe would not exist today – not in its current form, at least – so it’s important to pay tribute to their collective work whenever possible. Besides, what’s not to love about a Lee cameo?
Fresh off his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in The Defenders, Marvel fans can look forward to seeing Stan Lee crop up in Thor: Ragnarok when Taika Waititi’s threequel races into theaters on November 3rd.
