Stan Lee's Real Role in the MCU Revealed

Robert Downey Jr. may be making his eighth appearance as Tony Stark this year in Spider-Man: Homecoming (and has two further performances at least to come in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4) and Samuel L. Jackson is seven movies into a whopping nine-picture deal, but they're far from being the most prolific performer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That honor goes to Stan Lee, the legendary comic writer and Marvel editor who created most of the characters now dominating the box office. He's appeared in every one of the series' fifteen movies and its various TV shows (as well as many more cameos in other Marvel productions made by different studios), in the process becoming as essential a part of the formula as quippy humor and post-credits scenes.

His latest cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 might just be his best yet. Like all of his bit-parts, it comes completely without warning and causes a ripple of giddiness throughout the audience; as Rocket, Yondu and Kraglin are zipping through space trying to find Ego, turning into live-action Tex Avery cartoons as they go through 700 travel-gates, they pass by a space rock where Lee is sat recounting adventures to a circle of Watchers. It's reprised in the film's final post-credits scene, where the aliens have enough and zip away.

Ostensibly this brings the Watchers, an essential part of the Cosmic Marvel Universe, to the big screen, but that's not why it's so great. Even before the MCU there was a fan theory that all of Lee's random cameos were linked, something that's only intensified over the past decade with the continuity-driven shared universe, and this latest development would seem to point directly at it being true.

The Unifying Stan Lee Theory

As a refresher, here's a complete list of each of Stan Lee's cameos:

Iron Man - Hugh Hefner Lookalike

The Incredible Hulk - Old Man Poisoned by Hulk-blood-contaminated soda

Iron Man 2 - Larry King Lookalike

Thor - Truck Driver Trying to move Mjolnir

Captain America: The First Avenger - 1940s General

The Avengers - Skeptic in New York

Iron Man 3 - Beauty Pageant Judge

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Train Passenger (1x13)

Thor: The Dark World - Mental Hospital Patient

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Smithsonian Exhibit Security Guard

Guardians of the Galaxy - Xandarian Pervert

Agent Carter - Shoeshine Customer (1x04)

Netflix's The Defenders - New York Police Officer (seen in photos)

Avengers: Age of Ultron - Lightweight Veteran

Ant-Man - Bartender in Luis' Story

Captain America: Civil War - FexEx Delivery Agent

Doctor Strange - New York Cab Rider

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Watcher Spy

It's worth pointing out that in only three of the movie ones does he have direct interaction with a main character, yet in a whopping twelve he reacts to or is somehow impacted by the seismic events going on around him.

The cameo theory is essentially that in each of his appearances, Lee is actually the same character and, rather than being a bystander, he is in fact a highly aware being monitoring the various Avengers (one alt-theory posits that he's just a regular guy with many jobs and a spaceship, but the grander idea actually makes more sense). This has seen him intrinsically linked to the Watchers, with many suggesting that he's actually Uatu, the member of the species set to monitor Earth.

In a nutshell, the Watchers are the oldest species in the universe and have long-since evolved beyond actually partaking in its development. Similar to how the immortal Ego grew tired of life (but less maniacal), they choose to monitor and catalogue everything that happens. Uatu is the Watcher for Earth and has on occasion broken his prime directive, but only at the direst of moments.

Within Lee's roles thus far, there's been nothing to explicitly work against this - his position tangential to the story is ideal for a Watcher and any spatial or time-based rifts are rather light when we're dealing with the Cosmic side of Marvel - and so it's been quite easy to take as a jokey running idea. However, it was never expected that Marvel would ever actually confirm it.

What Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Reveals

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 takes all of the elements of the cameo theory and the Watcher comic lore and mixes it together to reveal that while Lee isn't Uatu or even a Watcher, he is an operative for them; he's credited as "The Watchers’ Informant", making him a spy of sorts. And make no mistake, this Informant is linked to the rest of the MCU. During the in-movie cameo he's not just sat telling endless stories, but recounting a very specific time he was a Federal Express agent - the exact profession he had in Captain America: Civil War. Kevin Feige has since commented on the whole theory and that Civil War quote specifically, officially canonizing what could easily be read as a James Gunn joke.

Extrapolating from that influx of information, this makes it clear that throughout the movies Lee has been there to keep tabs on The Avengers, feeding information back to the Watchers. How active a role he has within their wider goals isn't made clear - it's likely (and more humorous) that he's rather useless and instead of seeking out the heroes he just keeps accidentally finding himself next to Thor's hammer, interviewed about them on TV and getting poisoned/fired by their exploits - but its confirmation all the same.

This isn't the only time on screen where Lee's been more than a random person - Fantastic Four cast him as mailman Willie Lumpkin while sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer broke the fourth wall and had him as himself denied entry to Reed and Sue's wedding - but it is the first it's been done with a sense of greater cohesion and actual meaning.

Next Page: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='What%20Is%20The%20Future%20Of%20Stan%20Lee%20and%20the%20Watchers%3F']

What Does This Mean For The Future?

So theory confirmed. Where next? Well, perhaps nowhere. The Watchers clearly aren't all that impressed with their Informant, leaving before he can finish all his stories, so in-universe it may be that (regardless of what part the Watchers have to play in the future) Lee simply isn't important in the grand scheme. He's there, but as a secondary concern, someone who can tip them off if some serious stuff goes down but hardly a keeper of the Holocron. Indeed, that Feige described Lee as "above and apart" from the rest of the action can be taken to suggest the Informant ultimately operates on a more meta-plane than those he's observing. These are just cameos, after all.

Creatively, maybe a thumbs up is the limit. If Marvel were ever going to tip the hat to the Watcher theory, Guardians 2 - the one with the most out-there concepts of any MCU film - is far and away the best movie to do it in; a continuity rejigging wink slots right alongside empaths and Living Planets, whereas it'd jar with the 1970s-style espionage The Winter Soldier or Iron Man 3's exploration of modern media-focused terrorism. Indeed, this idea's not likely to be used much in the future; when it comes to Earth-based adventures like Spider-Man: Homecoming or even tonally-different space-set adventures like Thor: Ragnarok, any Watcher appearance will pull you out of the movie more than seeing the incredibly recognizable Stan Lee already does. It'd be possible for Avengers: Infinity War or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to incorporate the element, but even then it would be hard to make much more than a running joke, with little wider substantial purpose. And, with the theory approved, does much more really needs to be done?

That said, there is one feasible way that Lee could be given a little more importance. In that same interview quoted earlier, Feige made a rather strong point that none of the Watchers in the sequence are Uatu, a clarification that could be taken as needlessly pedantic but is more probably carefully sidestepping contradictions for if/when the character is introduced. If Uatu does turn up and play a substantive role, then it would be elegant to work Lee's cameo into that; both related to Earth, they're sure to have some crossed paths. It'd be a subtle using of the suitable movies to tell a little fan-focused story almost in the background (like how Thanos' rise is really more for the observant die-hards than the regular multiplex-goer).

Conclusion

Stan Lee may not be a Watcher but he is a Watcher Informant, which is more than close enough. The theory is confirmed with a bevy of evidence - the scene in the movie itself, the credits, and comments by the franchise's producer - which marks it as the biggest creator-confirmed fan speculation this side of Frozen/Tarzan. It may not have the actual weight that those initially theorizing would have wanted, but it's still a satisfying reveal and one that highlights how the MCU can balance multiple levels of emotion, seriousness and continuity (all within the same film no less).

One thing we can say with certainty is that we haven't seen the last of Stan Lee in the MCU. He's already filmed three future appearances - Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok (which were filmed concurrently with Doctor Strange and Vol. 2's) and Avengers: Infinity War - and it'd be crazy to not expect him in Black Panther and Ant-Man and the Wasp, so whether he's informing inter-galactic beings or being harassed in a shawarma joint, there's plenty more of Stan the Man to be enjoyed.