James Gunn Talks About Shooting His Stan Lee Marvel Cameos

It is hard to believe that Stan Lee is 93 years old. The comics legend seems more vibrant than ever these days. While the last year has been a ‘last hurrah’ for Lee before he slows down his public appearances, the writer hasn’t let his victory lap be a slow one. Lee has been busy promoting upcoming Marvel films and filming his famous cameos for the projects. And, now, the director of Lee’s next cameos is talking about what it was like to shoot the outgoing icon.

Director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) took to Facebook recently to praise Lee for his persistence and on-screen humor. He posted the touching post after news outlets confirmed that Gunn had filmed the next four cameos which Lee will appear in on the big screen.

“It was definitely one of the most fun times I’ve ever had on set,” Gunn shared. “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…”

The director continued, writing, “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.”

If you are not in the UK where Doctor Strange has already premiered, then you might be wondering about Lee’s cameo in the film. ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis was lucky enough to catch an IMAX sneak-peek of the movie and wrote up a short description of the icon’s appearance which you can read below:

“In what looks like one of the most epic foot chases in cinematic history, Doctor Strange and Mordo are running down streets, up building sides, and across the sky as the world warps around them. After Kaecilius bends the building on which Mordo and Strange are running, they fall to the ground and into the side of a bus. As they fall, the camera angle switches to a point of view from inside the bus, revealing Stan Lee reading Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception.“

Obviously, Doctor Strange is just the latest of many films which Lee has cameoed in. The comic creator began appearing in Marvel-related projects back in 1989 with the Trial of the Incredible Hulk. Since then, Lee has appeared in short, one-off roles in parts of the X-Men franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more. With more than 20 cameos under his belt, you might be wondering if Lee has a particular favorite – and it seems like he does.

Earlier this month, Lee revealed his favorite cameo is in Avengers: Age of Ultron since (1) Thor gifted him with Asgardian mead and (2) he made more than one scene.

Doctor Strange hits theaters on November 4, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5, 2017. Next up is Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 7, 2017, with Thor: Ragnarok landing on November 3, 2017. Black Panther debuts on February 16, 2018, followed by the eagerly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, 2018. Ant-Man and the Wasp hits on July 6, 2018, with Captain Marvel finally hitting theaters on March 8, 2019.