Written by Vanessa Agius & Cristian Stanic
The big dog of Marvel. The head honcho. You know Stan Lee as the man who created some of your favourite comic book characters like Spider-Man, The Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, among many others.
You also probably know him as that one dude who shows up in all those Marvel movies for some reason. Turns out he gets around quite a lot for a nonagenarian.
As he prepares for appearances at Brisbane and Adelaide Supanova, we look back on some of his best roles.
Fantastic Four – Rise Of The Silver Surfer: Wedding Crasher
Nothing is worse than not making the cut on the invite list, especially when you created the characters that are getting hitched. Claiming, “I should be on that list!”, Lee portrays himself attempting to attend the wedding of Susan Storm and Reed Richards. After an usher humours him, Lee is escorted out in protest. Tough! Thank goodness he didn’t stay for that helicopter crash.
Iron Man: Hugh Hefner
Tony Stark meets many an A-lister in his billionaire dealings, but none of these compare to meeting the lavish and eccentric Hugh Hefner at a charity event. Lee, looking more dapper than ever with a lady on each arm, donned the classic burgundy velvet jacket and signature pipe in a get-up almost too hard to believe.
Spider-Man 3: Man in Times Square
Our spidey senses were tingling when we saw a familiar face offer some advice to our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man in the bustling Times Square. Offering Peter Parker some words of encouragement, Stan Lee says, “You know, I guess one person can make a difference…enough said!” Pretty ironic coming from the man who has changed the lives of so many.
The Avengers
It may be one of his briefer cameos, but it nicely demonstrates that great self-awareness that makes Marvel movies so fun to watch. He appears at the end of the movie in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it news reel and says, “Super heroes in New York? Gimme a break.” Bravo, Stan. It’s impossible to watch this clip and not, at the very least, do one of those audible laugh-snorts. Not quite a chuckle, but you know the thing we’re talking about.
Big Hero 6: Fred’s Father
His first and, to date, only animated film cameo, Lee features during the credits of the highly successful movie adaptation of Big Hero 6. As Fred revisits his family home expressing a desire to share his recent achievements with his father, a shadowing figure appears before him, revealing to be the legend himself. Bonding over their similar underwear-wearing habits, father and son share a hilariously heartwarming moment to which Lee concludes “we have a lot to talk about!”, introducing him to a new generation of fans.
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers
Yeah, a video game one, didn’t expect this, right? In the LEGO version of Age Of Ultron, the little Stan Lee minifig is sweeping up the apartment, and casually picks up Thor’s hammer to dust under it. Then he accidentally shoots a bolt of lightning from it!? He’s one of the most powerful characters in the LEGO Marvel Universe. Not only that, he can transform into his own version of the Hulk, Web-Swing like Spidey, is invincible like Wolverine, has telekinesis, can stretch like Mr. Fantastic, move metal like Magneto, run like Quicksilver, and can shoot fire, and lasers from his eyes, AND has his own Iron Man suit.
