Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home 

A Stan Lee lookalike originally continued the cameo trend of the late comics writer in Spider-Man: No Way Home, according to a recently released screenplay. The blockbuster superhero flick sees Tom Holland’s Peter Parker confront multiple iconic Spidey villains from across the multiverse; including foes of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men. A celebration of the wallcrawler on screen, No Way Home has reignited the box office and is already one of the highest grossing movies of all time.

However, one iconic face from Spidey’s history was not able to make it to the multiversal movie; original Spider-Man creator Lee. The longtime comics writer, who passed away in 2018, was the face of the Marvel brand, and as such appeared in many projects based on his works. The ‘Stan Lee Cameo’ trend saw the writer's appearance in almost every Marvel project as a rite-of-passage, dating back to his appearance in a courtroom scene in The Trial of The Incredible Hulk. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lee had appeared in every one of the interconnected films up until 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Related: Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Should Replace Stan Lee’s Cameo Appearances In The MCU 

Despite his absence, a recently released screenplay for No Way Home reveals that an homage to Lee almost made it into the finished film. In an excerpt featured on ComicBook.com, the details of a planned Lee-lookalike are outlined. The moment would have come in the memorable closing scenes of the film, when Peter visits the diner MJ works at. In the finished film, Peter spots her talking with a regular customer while he waits in line for his order, but this script extract reveals that the customer was originally going to be a “Stan Lee Lookalike.” While this never came to be, it’s easy to imagine how the scene would’ve worked, with Lee often popping up in shops and crowds throughout the Marvel Universe.

Stan Lee in Ant-Man

The screenplay was released by Sony as they campaign for the blockbuster hit to be considered for the 2022 Academy Awards. What seemed like an unlikely choice for awards season is quickly building a lot of momentum, with fans hoping the popular flick at least gets nominated. In the aftermath of the must-see movie, audiences are increasingly interested in the alternate scenes and designs that didn’t make it into the finished film. Concept art has revealed several scrapped ideas, including a fight between Doctor Strange and Mysterio, while unused costume art shows a sweater-wearing Doc Ock and a Hammer industries hoodie being donned by Green Goblin.

In the end, there was no Lee doppelgänger in the final film, and the Cameo King remains irreplaceable. It’s interesting to note, however, that this planned appearance may still be used further down the line for one last ‘Excelsior.’ Perhaps fans will get a chance to say goodbye to the iconic figure on screen in a tentpole MCU movie later in Phase 4. Either way, it’s undeniable that Lee would’ve loved to see all three versions of Peter Parker given the appreciation they deserved on-screen together.

Next: Why Mysterio Wasn’t In No Way Home (Despite Early Plans To Include Him)

Source: ComicBook.com

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