A SCENE STEALING MARVEL
Superhero creator Stan Lee’s movie cameos became his trademark. Here, Marion McMullen picks the best
1 MARVEL’S co-creator Stan Lee is being mourned following his death at the age of 95, but his cameo roles in his superhero movies will live on. It is said it was written into his contract that he would appear in any film based on one of his Marvel characters. He said: “If it’s a Marvel movie, I’m there for it. Whenever a new movie comes out, I hope they’ll have a spot for me. I get such a kick out of doing it.”
2 HIS first cameo appearance was in 1989 TV movie The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk with Lou Ferrigno (pictured) in the lead role. Stan appeared as the foreman of the jury in a dream courtroom sequence in the TV special.
3 THE 2003 movie Daredevil with Ben Affleck as blind superhero Matt Murdock failed to wow fans, but it did create one of the more entertaining Stan Lee cameos. He appeared as an old man reading a newspaper in the street who was saved from being hit by a bus by a young Matt. Stan later said he thought the film was too tragic.
4 WILLIE Lumpkin was a Marvel comic strip character that only lasted a couple of years. Fifty years after first creating him, Stan played Willie, pictured left, in the first Fantastic Four movie (2005), when he turned up as the postman of the Thing, Human Torch, Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman.
5 STAN said his favourite cameo was in Avengers: Age Of Ultron in 2015. He’s seen losing a drinking contest with Thor. He also turned up to give the Norse god a radical hair cut in Thor: Ragnarok last year, in preparation for his arena battle with Hulk.
6 STAN appeared in several Spider-Man movies. He was a man at the fair in the 2002 movie, dodged debris in the 2004 film and was seen in Times Square in New York in Spider-Man 3 in 2007, pictured above, telling hero Peter Parker: “I guess one person can make a difference”.
7 THE Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 saw SpiderMan battling with the Lizard in the background while an oblivious Stan can be seen in a library listening to classical music on his headphones completely unaware of the action behind him.
8 PERHAPS the funniest cameo came in the first Iron Man movie (2008) when inventor and maverick billionaire Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, mistakes him for Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner when he turns up at one of Stark’s party’s with two blondes on his arms, pictured.
9 STAN appeared as himself several times on US comedy The Big Bang Theory – usually trying to avoid the show’s sci-fi-loving geeks. The hit show’s cast paid their respects this week, sharing an old photo of themselves with Stan and adding the message: “Thank you for being a real life super hero to so many generations. ”
10 MEANWHILE, there might still be more Stan Lee film cameos in the pipeline. It is rumoured that Stan may have filmed several scenes in advance for forthcoming movies because of his advanced age. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige paid tribute to the comic book legend, saying: “Stan leaves an extraordinary legacy that will outlive us all.”