James Gunn Shot Three Upcoming Stan Lee Cameos for Marvel

For decades, Marvel has benefited greatly from having Stan Lee as the unofficial ambassador of all things comic book. Over the past few years, though, director James Gunn has given Lee a run for his money with his (relative) candor about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the challenge of keeping the characters and mythology of the comic books all in a row. When Lee is finally ready to hang up his Marvel hat, Gunn might be the obvious chose to succeed him as the creative face of the company. And that makes the two of them working together on Lee’s MCU cameos just about the perfect match.

In response to an article discussing Lee’s upcoming Marvel cameos, Gunn opened up on Facebook (via Heroic Hollywood) about the experience of working with the legendary Marvel writer and the way that Lee keeps the cast and crew on their toes:

And it was definitely one of the most fun times I’ve ever had on set. There are few people in this world I love and admire more and have more fun with than Stan Lee. Even though he does love breaking my, and everyone else’s balls (I introduced him to Tom Holland for the first time and he said, “Everyone says you’re great! Personally, I don’t see it.”). Although, to be honest, I think I only did THREE cameos — one was shot by someone else. And my third probably isn’t what you think it is…

So which movie’s cameos did Gunn direct? As you’ll see below, he’s already confirmed his involvement in the Doctor Strange cameo; meanwhile, the director’s own Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 would be an obvious fit if it weren’t for his comment about the third cameo not being what we think it is. This all suggests that Gunn was involved with one or both of Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Then again, given Lee’s advanced age, it’s possible that Marvel wanted to get a few extra cameos in the can for movies currently in pre-production. That could open the door to Avengers: Infinity War or even Black Panther, depending on the schedule.

Gunn also shared a bit about the many takes that he and Lee burned through and his hope that those will someday see the light of day:

If you’ve seen the Doctor Strange cameo, it was one of MANY versions I shot on the day, and Scott Derrickson chose the final one. If I’m writing for Stan, why give him one line when I can give him a thousand? I just kept throwing lines at him one after the other, until we were all doubled over with laughter. Someday, after you’ve seen the movie, maybe Marvel Studios will let me share some of those with you.

So there you have it: the face of Marvel comics and the face of Marvel movies, both cracking themselves up and having a ton of fun on set. While some fans may think these cameos have jumped the shark by now, it does seem to be a beloved tradition for everyone involved. Here’s hoping that Stan Lee continues to shoot these cameos for years to come.