David Pierdomenico
At the end of last year, the world mourned as we lost a legend. Stan Lee was not just the godfather of Marvel and comic books in general, but he was also one of the greatest creators of fiction in the 20th Century. Fans couldn’t help but shed bittersweet tears during the absolutely beautiful tribute to him in the opening of Captain Marvel. But in addition to his many characters, Lee’s legacy lives on in his many film cameos, some of which we’re now seeing posthumously as he filmed a few shortly before his tragic passing. Among these, one stands out in particular. His brief appearance in Captain Marvel creates vast implications that rock the very core of the MCU itself!
A Character He Knew Best (minor spoilers for Captain Marvel)
After the touching Marvel logo tribute, we spot Stan Lee on the “L” train as Carol Danvers pursues and fights with a Skrull on the run. As she scans the passengers to determine which one is her foe, she spots Lee reading the script for Mallrats, and reciting a line of dialogue from his small role in that film. As Captain Marvel is set in 1995 (the same year of Mallrats’ release), Lee is playing himself in this scene, rehearsing for what would be one of his very first cameos ever. In fact, it was after having so much fun with Mallrats that Lee started doing more cameos and made it a staple of Marvel films (more on that here).
Unlike his many other cameos, this marked the only time in the MCU that Lee was playing himself. He had previously done so in 2007’s Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but that was its own self-contained universe, along with its 2005 predecessor. But what makes this so incredible is that Stan Lee himself, the creator of so many Marvel characters, exists in his own universe, alongside his own characters! It’s a phenomenon reminiscent of 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction when an author (Emma Thompson) realizes that she and her literary character (Will Ferrell) coexist in the same world.
Creating a Meta Universe
But when we take this idea a step further, it gets even more intriguing. During his scene in Mallrats, Stan Lee has a conversation with Brody about life and romance, all using metaphors from his Marvel characters. He specifically mentions Spiderman and Hulk, both of which now exist as real people in the same continuity as Carol Danvers, and by extension, Stan Lee himself. From this, we can surmise that Marvel comics exists alongside Marvel characters in a brilliant self-aware fashion.
Which in a strange way, ties directly into his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. There, we see him as an informant to the Watchers, a race of aliens charged with overseeing the multiverse itself. His scene has him humorously explaining how he was a delivery driver in Captain America: Civil War, but his inclusion among these extra-terrestrial beings suggested that Stan Lee was something of an overseer of the universe himself, which explains all of his cameos in each film.
So what if this particular scene was more than just a funny fourth wall break? What if Stan Lee’s role among the Watchers is him playing himself as Stan Lee, the head of Marvel and creator of so many of its characters? What if throughout his many appearances in the MCU, he’s all along been the transcendent being who created that very universe?!
