Credit: Marvel StudiosEven though he passed away in 2018, comic book legend Stan Lee was supposed to have a cameo in Marvel Studio’s hit film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).
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To say that Stan Lee is a Marvel Comics legend is an understatement. Alongside Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Lee created some of the most iconic characters in comic book history, including the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Black Panther, and so many more.
Through this process, Stan Lee also became the face of the Marvel Comic brand, speaking at conventions and panels across the United States and having featured cameos in movies across the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While he, unfortunately, passed away in 2018, Lee was surprisingly slated to have one last cameo in this year’s smash hit, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Stan Lee Was Supposed to be Lambshank
During the director’s commentary for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, new DCU head honcho James Gunn revealed that he had actually written a cameo for Stan Lee back in 2018 before the legend passed away. However, this was meant to be different from any previous cameo Lee had taken part in.
“…I originally wrote Lambshank, the character that I played, for Stan Lee because I wrote the movie before Stan passed on.”
Lambshank is a CGI character audiences meet toward the end of the film. When Mantis (Pom Klementieff) was releasing the High Evolutionary‘s (Chukwudi Iwuji) genetic experiments, she screamed when witnessing a truly monstrous creation. After he responded sadly, she assured him she was “screaming at something scary behind you, not you.”
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While Gunn played the character in the final product, Lambshank was supposed to be voiced by Stan Lee. “…I knew he was also getting much older, and it’d be harder to bring him to Atlanta to shoot,” said Gunn, “so I did a character that I could just animate and then have him do the voice and have a little Stan Lee-like face on that character. But unfortunately, Stan passed, who I really enjoyed working with and directing so many times through these movies.”
While it seems like we’ll never see a cameo like this again, Marvel is technically allowed to use Stan Lee’s likeness in any way they see fit, including as characters in their movies. However, this seems to be in incredibly bad taste. And if the reactions to a similar cameo in The Flash (2023) are any indicator, Marvel Studios should just leave him be.
What’s your favorite Stan Lee cameo in the MCU? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!