Stan Lee’s Avengers: Endgame Cameo Was in the Script From the First Draft

Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee‘s final Marvel Cinematic Universe cameo — which took place in Avengers: Endgame and was inspired by a familiar ’70s-era photo — was apparently in the script from day one, all the way down to the use of “Hey Lawdy Mama” by Steppenwolf as the song in the scene. The cameo, in which Lee and a pair of women drive (way over the speed limit) past a military base, required filmmakers to digitally de-age Lee by more than forty years. During tonight’s installment of Quarantine Watch Party over on Twitter, Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely tweeted out a commentary from ComicBook.com’s Twitter account.

The cameo, Lee’s final appeareance in a Marvel movie, was a fun one. It came up, as you might expect, and Markus and McFeely told fans what it felt like on set.

The last Lee cameo, they said, was “a monumental day.”

“This was his final cameo that was committed to film,” director Joe Russo previously told ComicBook.com. “It was always… I grew up as a Marvel fanatic, and watching the Spider-Man cartoon show as a kid with his voice in it. I think anything that affects you as a child really affects you as an adult, sticks with you. So when he would come on set, and we’d hear his voice, it’s sort of Pavlovian in a way, where you just become a child again. The whole crew would be like that. People were always… All these movie stars on set every day, and then Stan would show up, and it was just like people were kids all over again.”

You can see their tweet below.

Speaking as a Steppenwolf fan? It’s pretty cool to see a song from the band that isn’t “Born to Be Wild” or “Magic Carpet Ride” pop up in any kind of pop culture. But of course, it’s Lee, in that instantly-recognizable ensemble, that made it really sing. And it’s one that really could only have worked in Endgame, since prior to that film we never saw time travel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper.

“There was some work, very minor de-aging done on Captain Marvel,” VFX artist Trent Claus said about Lee’s cameo in the prequel. “But that was 10 years ago or something, so not really a noticeable change overall, especially for a man of his age. But for this one, we had to go back 45 years, so it was a pretty sizable amount.”

Avengers: Endgame is now available to stream on Disney+ Avengers: Infinity War will hit the platform on June 25th.