Why Stan Lee Won't Cameo in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
It would appear that, unlike many of his superhero creations, Stan Lee is bound to the surface of the Earth.
One of the best things about a good chunk of Marvel movies is seeing where and how the Marvel Comics mastermind will pop up amongst all of the whiz-bang-pow. Lee has made a cameo appearance in all of the movies produced by Marvel Studios, though it looks like that tradition is going to be broken with this summer’s outer space adventure, “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
But why, exactly?
"This is the one group I didn’t create," Lee said in an interview with DweebCast. “I didn’t write ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ I’m not even sure who they all are!”
Neither are we, Stan. But we’re slowly but surely figuring it out.
[Related: Meet Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ — Could They Be Next Avengers?]
Lee also didn’t go full-throttle Marvel cheerleader as he usually does when he spoke about the reviled 2003 adaptation of “Daredevil,” though he doesn’t think Ben Affleck is to blame for the film’s failure.
"He didn’t do quite as well as Daredevil as everyone had hoped he would," said Lee. "But I think that had more to do with the directing than anything else."
That directing came courtesy of Mark Steven Johnson, who went on to also call the shots on “Ghost Rider” (2007). No one really liked that movie, either.
We’ll certainly miss looking for Stan the Man in “Guardians” when it opens on Aug. 1. And while he’s appeared in every Marvel Studios offering until now (and is rumored to appear in April’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”), he’s been notably absent from some Marvel movies produced by other studios. For the record, here are the Marvel films where you won’t find a Stan Lee appearance, no matter how hard you look:
—”Blade” (1998)
— “Blade II” (2002)
— “X2” (2003)
— “The Punisher” (2004)
— “Blade: Trinity” (2004)
— “Elektra” (2005)
— “Ghost Rider” (2007)
— “Punisher: War Zone” (2008)
— “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009)
— “X-Men: First Class” (2011)
— “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” (2012)
— “The Wolverine” (2013)
And, for your enjoyment, here are all of the Stan Lee cameos in one fell swoop, not including his appearance as Himself in “Thor: The Dark World” (2013).
Included:
— “X-Men” (2000) — Hot Dog Vendor
— “Spider-Man” (2002) — Man in Fair
— “Daredevil” (2003) — Old Man at Crossing
— “Hulk” (2003) — Security Guard (our personal second favorite)
— “Spider-Man 2” (2004) — Man Dodging Debris
— “Fantastic Four” (2005) — Willie Lumpkin
— “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) — Waterhose Man
— “Spider-Man 3” (2007) — Man in Times Square
— “4: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007) — Stan Lee, Rejected Wedding Guest
— “Iron Man” (2008) — Stan Lee (aka Not Hugh Hefner)
— “The Incredible Hulk” (2008) — Milwaukee Man Drinking From Bottle
— “Iron Man 2” (2010) — Stan Lee (aka Not Larry King)
— “Thor” (2011) — Stan the Man (our personal favorite)
— “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011) — General
— “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012) — Stan Lee
— “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012) — School Librarian
— “Iron Man Three” (2013) — Pageant Judge
