This past Monday, Nov. 12, Stan Lee passed away. Stan was basically the backbone of Marvel Comics–he created the iconic characters of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and more. Iconically, he would make cameos in every Marvel movie, plus he would sometimes appear in random movies like “Princess Diaries 2.” I considered ranking all of his Marvel cameos, but honestly, it would feel disrespectful to put any of his cameos on the bottom of any list. So instead, I will just share with you some of my favorite Stan Lee moments, rank-free.
Personally, my favorite cameo is the one in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” where he plays a museum security guard who is “so fired” after Cap steals his old uniform.
Another favorite is from “Thor: Ragnarok,” where Stan cuts Thor’s hair on Sakaar.
Here is Stan trying to move Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, with his truck–except that only the one who is worthy can move the hammer (aka just Thor).
And here we have Stan in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” After Spidey accidentally sets off a car alarm, Stan shouts down from his window, “Don’t make me come down there, you punk!” Legendary.
Stan also has impersonated Hugh Hefner (in “Iron Man”) and Larry King (in “Iron Man 2”), btw.
I would also like to share Stan’s cameo from “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” where he is a veteran who wants some of Thor’s alcohol–which Thor says is “not meant for mortal men.” But after drinking some, Stan gets very drunk and mutters one of his beloved phrases, “Excelsior.”
Finally, I would like to share perhaps the most important cameo of all, from the (original) Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man 3.” For this one, he says to Peter Parker, “You know, I guess one person can make a difference. Nuff said.”
Rest in peace, Stan. You will be missed.