Apparently,Spider-Man: No Way Homehad its own tribute planned for Spider-Man co-creator and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee. Though the moment didn’t make it in the film, writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, whoreturned to pen the third film, did plan something for him on-page. A detail from the full script ofSpider-Man: No Way Homesuggests that there was a small glimpse of an old gentleman at the end of the film, who would have been a Stan Lee look-alike, giving Marvel fans an easter egg referencing Marvel Studios’ long-spanning track of having Stan Lee cameos.
The scene in the film referencing Stan Lee’s look-alike comes at the end of the film, when, after having his identity and memories erased from everyone’s lives, Peter visits MJ to the coffee shop she works in. Right before Peter steps up to talk to MJ, he witnesses her laughing with an older customer, who has a similar appearance to Stan Lee. The scene then follows the climactic closure to Peter’s iconic character arc after he refuses to tell Zendaya the truth about himself. Here’s the excerpt from the recently released script of the film:
The person referenced doesn’t bare any resemblance to the Marvel artist at all. However,No Way Homedoes have an easter egg in the movie paying tribute to Stan Lee, through a taxi that carries the license plate number -1228,a recall to Stan Lee’s birth date, that is December 28.
Marvel Continues to Honor Stan Lee’s Legacy
Marvel Studios has always worked to honor Stan Lee and his legacy that has helped create the iconicMarvel Cinematic Universe, which combines different iterations and stories of the characters Stan developed for the comics. Stan Lee has filmed some of the finest cameos for comic book films, and not just for the MCU, but for other Marvel Entertainment associations such asX-Menfilms and Fox’sFantastic Fouras well. To spice it up, he has even crossed over to the other realm and done some cameos for rival DC films at times. Stan Lee appeared in his final MCU cameo in the 2019 filmAvengers: Endgame, which was one of his last two posthumous cameo roles, the other beingCaptain Marvelwhich was released the same year. Commemorating him and addressing his passing, Marvel Studios paid tribute by including his cameo footages to the studio logo that comes on-screen at the beginning of MCU films forCaptain Marvel.
Though Stan Lee has a long list of credits on Marvel Comics, his connection to Spider-Man is stronger given it’s his most successful creation who turned one of the most successful film franchises of all time, starting withSam Raimi’sSpider-Man Trilogythat starred Tobey Maguire in the lead role. Iconically,No Way Homebrought back Maguire’s version of the character as themultiverse broke uponthe Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing the cinematic journey of the character full circle. Unfortunately, Stan Lee isn’t here to witness thethree generations of Spider-Man coming together, however how surreal it would have been to add Stan Lee to the frame with the three actors who have brought his creation to life.
