‘Once Upon A Deadpool’ Updates Stan Lee Cameo for Tribute

Once Upon A Deadpool updated its Stan Lee cameo to pay tribute to the late Marvel Comics icon.

With Once Upon serving as a PG-13 re-release of Deadpool 2, the film is mostly the same, though it is now being told through the lens of Deadpool’s narrative to a captive Fred Savage. Some scenes are altered, a few deleted entirely, and others are added from the deleted scenes reel of the film’s first go-round. However, the Stan Lee cameo evolved to honor the legend after his passing earlier this year — in two ways.

Spoilers for Once Upon A Deadpool follow. Major spoilers!

First, Once Upon A Deadpool features the same mural of Lee plastered on the side of building during. This time around, the mural which Domino flies past after leaping from the X-Force helicopter sees “RIP” written beside Lee’s face.

Later in the film, Lee himself actually appeared following the movie’s end credits.

With A-ha’s “Take On Me” playing, Lee appears in a post-credits sequence to explain how he hopes people will remember him. “He wrote some really good stories,” Lee says in the scene. “I don’t think about that much. When I’m gone, I really don’t care. It doesn’t do you any good when you’re gone.”

Fittingly enough, the video ends with Lee saying his classic tagline: “Excelsior!”

Once Upon aims to please audiences by preying on nostalgia, offering parents the chance to enjoy something somewhat familiar (and funny, as a result) and younger audiences the opportunity to see a Deadpool movie appropriate for them. For Fred Savage, who spoke to Comicbook.com about his role in the film (and stayed in-character to do so), Once Upon A Deadpool ended up working out just as Reynolds hoped.

“Wish I could tell you the details. I got a phone call from Ryan Reynolds saying, ‘Hey, Fred, how are you? I don’t know you but here’s this idea that I have about doing Princess Bride in Deadpool. I said, ‘That seems terrible, you know? That’s a movie that people really love and this is a movie that’s not for children, at all.’ He goes, ‘I know, wouldn’t that be great?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Next thing I know, I’m in that room, so lesson learned: Ryan Reynolds doesn’t take no for an answer.”

Once Upon A Deadpool is now playing in theaters.