Comic-book legend Stan Lee has long made cameo appearances in superhero movies based on characters he either created or helped create, but since his death earlier this winter the few cameos still coming out that he pre-recorded are far more poignant than they may have been intended to be.
At least, that’s certainly the case for Lee’s posthumous cameo in animated Spider-Man spin-off Into the Spider-verse, which the former Marvel boss recorded lines for some time before his death.
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Warning – from hereon out, we’ll be discussing some spoilers from Into the Spider-verse. Though probably not much more than you could have picked up from the post-credits scenes of Venom, if you watched those.
In the scene where Lee appears, newly-spider-powered teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) heads to a costume shop called Stan’s Collectibles to pick up a cheap Spider-Man costume, following the sad death of his universe’s original Spider-Man (Chris Pine).
And when he hands over the low-quality outfit, the shop’s owner – an animated version of Lee – has some sage words of wisdom for Miles.
“I’m going to miss him,” Lee tells Miles of the deceased Spidey. “We were friends, you know.”
“Can I return it if it doesn’t fit?” Miles replies, looking askance at the suit.
Miles Morales looks at a rather more professional Spider-Man suit in Into the Spider-Verse (Sony)
“It always fits, eventually,” Lee replies with a twinkle in his eye – though the inspiring thought behind that sentiment is slightly undermined when Miles notices that Stan’s Collectibles has a no-return, no refund policy anyway.
“I think that it’s a really warm cameo, and we’ve seen it play with an audience for a few months now, and it’s always been a welcome presence,” producer and screenwriter Phil Lord told Comicbook.com of the cameo.
“People are always excited to see him. We’ve seen it since then with an audience, and there’s still a kind of joy in it, even though we all miss him. The audience basically welcomes him back. It’s like seeing an old friend.”
“I feel like it’s taken on an added poignancy since we lost him, but it still as a moment still plays to cheers, but now with some ‘AHs’, and then some laughs,” added producer Chris Miller.
“I’m just happy that we got to put him in a really integral spot of the movie, and sort of at a really important, emotional moment for the movie. And be able to honor him in a way that felt like it did him some justice.”
Dressed up for the #SpiderVerse premiere! pic.twitter.com/HfknFymhbk
— Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) December 1, 2018
In a way, having Stan Lee hand over a costume to the next generation of Spider-Man would be more than enough of a tribute – but the film also slips a thank you to him in during the credits, where a card appears with a quote and a drawing of Lee’s trademark sunglasses.
“That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero,” the card reads, before adding another postscript that includes Steve Ditko, the comic-book artist who co-created Spidey with Lee and also died earlier this year.
The message reads: “Thanks to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, for showing us we’re not the only ones.”
Hold on a sec – we’ve just got something in our eyes….
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is in UK cinemas for early screenings now, ahead of a full release on the 12th December
from Radio Times https://ift.tt/2G6kyFk
