Stan “The Man” Lee made his career helping create the Marvel Universe, but in his twilight years, Stan has gotten a second career in movie cameos. Stan Lee has appeared in almost all Marvel Comics movies and makes surprise appearances in TV shows, cartoons, and the occasional DC property. This list ranks the geekiest, most comic book friendly Stan Lee cameos with no bearing on the actual quality of the movie (it’s almost an inverse relationship).
7. The Hulk as security guard with Lou Ferrigno
Not only was this Stan Lee’s first speaking role in a Marvel movie, but “The Man” got to work security with the original Hulk, Lou Ferrigno in a double whammy of geekery.
6. Fantastic Four 2 as rejected wedding guest
Poor Stan Lee. He co-creates almost the entire Marvel Universe, but he not one even sends him a wedding invitation. Stan Lee arrives assuming it was an over sight only to be not only turned away, but not even recognizes. How shameful.
Comic book geeks enjoy pointing to to Hollywood as validation for our passion. For some reason, when celebrities like comic books, especially good looking ones, it makes us feel better about ourselves. Writer/director Kevin Smith counts for at least one of those qualifications. Smith made his name with indie and cult classic comedy Clerks, a riveting tale of losers and geeks talking about super heroes, B-grade movies, and other stuff no one who’s had sex in the past five years cares about. The conversations, like comparing "Empire Strikes Back" to "Return of the Jedi" and creepy, fetish porn are almost like exact duplicates of conversations real geeks would have if we had real friends. Now we have World of Warcraft. Maybe there’s some sequel opportunities there.
Die-hard comic fans loved bragging about film director Kevin Smith’s love of comics. The acclaimed indie director was growing in mainstream popularity when he decided to take some time away from making real money to actually writing comics. Smith teamed up with artist Joe Quesada to relaunch Daredevil in what turned out to be a creative renaissance, however controversial, for the character. Smith went on to write several other popular runs and is partly credited with bringing more mainstream talent to the comic book community.
