A few months back, comic book legend Stan Lee revealed that he would not be making a cameo appearance in James Gunn's upcoming movie Guardians of the Galaxy, but apparently things have changed in an interesting way in the time since then. The famed editor and publisher was on a panel at c2e2 in Chicago this weekend and confirmed to the crowd there that he will indeed be showing up in Marvel Studios' space epic.
According to Variety, Lee was taking fan questions when he was asked if he would be filming a special appearance for a scene in Guardians of the Galaxy and he responded,
"I did already. I can’t tell you what it is, but I can tell you I do not understand what it was or why I did it. It has me with a girl — a very pretty girl — that’s all I can tell you."
That certainly seems to fit into the weird aesthetic that Gunn has created for both Guardians of the Galaxy and basically his entire career. Also, it's interesting that Marvel Studios filmmakers are once again pairing Lee with an attractive woman. This will be the third time following his part as Hugh Hefner in Iron Man to his role as a beauty pageant judge.
Lee's affirmative response to the question runs contrary to the answer he gave to the same query back in January. Appearing on a video podcast, Lee answered the Guardians of the Galaxy cameo question saying,
"No, I’m afraid not. This the one group I didn’t create. I didn’t write Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not even sure who they all are! I can’t wait to see the movie."
For the most part, Stan Lee has only made cameo appearances in the films that are based on characters he created - from Spider-Man to The Incredible Hulk - and that rule actually stopped him from appearing in both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine. That said, he has been known to bend the rules a bit, as he did have roles in both Captain America movies (Lee didn't create Cap, but he did revive the character and was the first to have the hero throw his shield). It's true that Stan Lee didn't create the Guardians of the Galaxy as a team, but he did create Groot, The Collector, and Ronan The Accuser, so he isn't totally without connection to the project.
In case you are totally behind on the whole "Stan Lee cameo" thing, I would highly recommend watching the montage below, which features all of the scenes up until 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man:
Guardians of the Galaxy will be in theaters on August 1st, and we can't wait to see what Lee's role is.
