Fan theories are the lifeblood of any active fandom, especially if that group of likeminded individuals happen to be fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And sometimes, those outrageous theories that say Stan Lee is secretly playing the same character through every MCU movie inspire some of the folks tasked with bringing that world to life. Just ask Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s James Gunn, as the writer/director of the 2017 sequel admitted that Lee’s big cameo conspiracy led him to include a very important cameo for the comics icon; possibly the coolest he ever had.
Interacting with fans through Twitter, James Gunn confirmed a cute fan theory pertaining to Baby Groot that was posed by one of his followers. When another fan jumped in to admire how fan canon simply became real canon, Gunn admitted that the scene where Stan Lee is regaling The Watchers with his tales of the MCU was inspired by a very similar experience:
A quick moment in the middle of the the perilous hyperspace travel we saw Rocket Raccoon, Yondu, and Kraglin engaging in during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we observed Stan Lee being rudely interrupted as he’s recounting every single cameo that he’s had since 2008’s Iron Man. At the point in the late comic book legend’s story, he’s gotten to the part where he played a FedEx driver in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War; which means that those impatient Watchers have roughly at least nine more stories to sit through until they get to his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame... give or take his appearances in non-MCU canon films like X-Men: Apocalypse.
It’s fitting that in the years between both entries of the Guardians of the Galaxy series, the theory of Stan Lee’s ability to jump through time and space without a day’s worth of aging went from fan favorite to actually canonized experience. If anything, this just goes to show that with the power of a unified fan theory, anything can be possible. That is, of course, if you have the right people listening in on the conversation at large. Oh, and if you’re curious about that other Guardians of the Galaxy fan theory that James Gunn had confirmed, you can read that for yourself below:
Should you also be experiencing a sudden and random urge to watch Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as it sequel, you may want to head over to Disney+. You can watch both installments on that particular platform, as well as any MCU film that doesn’t have the name Spider-Man or Hulk in the title. Who knows? The next fan theory to be confirmed by filmmakers like James Gunn could be yours.
