Holy Excelsior! Could Stan Lee’s various Marvel cameos be related? Is he a Watcher?
The answer might be “Yes”, according to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, confirms the long-standing theory of Lee’s appearances in the MCU. In a Radio Times interview, he talks about how Lee might be a Watcher.
“We always thought it would be fun. Stan Lee clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films,” he says. “So the notion that he could be sitting there on a cosmic pit stop during the jump gate sequence in Guardians was something very fun.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has two scenes featuring Lee. The first involves a spacesuit-wearing Lee talking with the Watchers about his past experiences. Although the location isn’t revealed, it looks as though they are on the moon.
During a post-credits bit, he recalls being a FedEx employee, which is a callback to his cameo in Civil War. The Watchers appear bored and walk away. “I’ve got more stories to tell!” Lee calls out as the scene ends.
The Watchers’ behaviour in this scene is very true to the source material. In the comics, they are an ancient race of beings who watch over all living things. As part of their way of life, they cannot interfere with what happens in the universe.
Director James Gunn echoes Feige’s words with his own opinion. “I mean, you know there’s a lot of cool stuff that the fans come up with,” he says. “A lot of stuff I don’t agree with, you know, people have ideas about what they think should happen in the MCU. But I find the idea that Stan Lee is a Watcher, or that he works for the Watchers, is just a fun little nod to the fans.
Feige credits Gunn for coming up with Lee’s role, and he reveals it almost got cut from the film. “James had that idea and we shot that cameo and loved it so much, you know, you see it a couple of times in the movie,” he says. “It wasn’t in for a long time and we put it back in towards the end of the process where he references that time he was a Federal Express agent.”
“We thought it would be fun to put that in there because that really says, so wait a minute, he’s this same character who’s popped up in all these films.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGu_yiCIkL8
