Stan Lee always make a cameo appearance in the Marvel films based on the characters he helped in re-creating. With this in mind, was there any particular reason why he missed X2: X-Men United, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class?

I have noticed that he was in X-Men and X-Men: The Last Stand so why skip X2?

  • 5
    Good observation I must say!
    – Sayan
    Mar 7 '13 at 6:45
  • 1
    I have read (not from official sources, mind you) that he does not appear in X2 or First Class because of the locations. He couldn't get to Australia and Canada respectively in order to shoot scenes for them due to other commitments. Not sure about Wolverine though.
    – Nobby
    Mar 7 '13 at 15:11
  • 2
    He didn't create Captain America, but he has a cameo in that movie. Mar 8 '13 at 18:46
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    Just want to clarify, several posts say Stan Lee didn't have anything to do with Cap and thats a stretch. He didn't create the character but he did work on him. Cap being brought into the modern times and he switched him to the circular shield and wrote the signature move shield toss into his arsenal. Basically the first half of the movie is how cap began in comics and the second half is Stan Lee's improvements
    – user7985
    Feb 8 '14 at 19:19
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    Maybe he didn't create Cap, but he did Nick Fury, Sharon and Peggy Carter, Dr Erskine, and most of the Howling Commandos . So there is plenty to link the great man to this film.
    – user9348
    Apr 30 '14 at 12:37

For the case of X-Men: First Class

According to lee's Twitter page, due to the filming taking place to far away he won't have a cameo in it. (Source:marvelousnews.com)

For the case of X2: X-Men United

Scooper 'Kailem' tells us that Stan Lee was interviewed on the "Filmfreak" radio station when he mentioned he will not have a cameo in X2...

It seems that unlike the original movie, he isn't going to be turning up anywhere in X2. When asked if he had a cameo in the sequel he replied "No, no I don't, I don't think I'm gonna have cameos in the sequels 'cause I think that gets to be a little much. I'm hoping I can have a cameo in the first movie of each character." (Source: comicbookmovie.com)

And for X-Men Origins: Wolverine case, Wolverine is one of the few characters not written by Lee.

So that's all I was able to find.

  • 7
    “I don't think I'm gonna have cameos in the sequels 'cause I think that gets to be a little much” — hee hee! That didn’t stick for long. Dec 25 '14 at 0:22
  • You'd think the makers of Marvel movies would be able to do something remotely via green screen. Dec 30 '19 at 22:17

When the first X-men film was made (and with it, some would argue, the birth of the modern age SuperGenre) there was very little to establish a conflict of interest: in fact quite the opposite.

Lee was probably very happy that Marvel Characters were being transferred to the big screen.

As time has passed, and Movie Studios began to realize how lucrative these films can be (particularly post Spider-Man), the legitimization of the Marvel 'brand' has since housed itself within Marvel Studios (who are responsible for the MCU), as this is considered the transmedia syndication of the original Marvel Comics movie arm.

As such and without tacit acknowledgement, Lee mainly seems to make cameo appearances within these movies, as they are the ones that are directly contributory to his property empire. The exception to this rule is Spider-Man, which is understandable given his investment in the character and its contribution to his personal legacy, and there are other exceptions as well.

Basically, Lee only makes cameo appearances when his endorsement is considered financially lucrative or it simply suits him to: he is under no obligation to make a cameo in every Marvel Movie.

See also: Blade, The Punisher, the forthcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.


  • He is not in Blade and The Punisher because he has nothing to do with their comic counterpart. Have to check about Guardians of the Galaxy. Anyways its more like a personal conclusion then a proof. Jan 30 '14 at 13:23
  • He has nothing to do with Cap, but it didn't stop him. There is no 'proof' to this because it assumes endorsement to be part of a business model, and marketing models fail if their intentions are made public. It has to feel natural, and organic, to prosper. Jan 30 '14 at 13:31
  • I got the conflict point after this long comment reading but still this is your first answer witch i am not in favour of (Obviously i might have skipped few of your answers). I love long answer till they are concern directly to question rather then bla bla bla. Which your answers anre not. But i don't get how MCU/Non-MCU affect in stan lee appearance. Stan lee is in marvel cameos from a long ago. Jan 31 '14 at 9:23
  • read the opening paragraph, Ankit. I was only when Marvel Began to rescind their licensing and create Marvel Studios that a possible conflict of interest would occur. Stan Lee is a direct beneficiary to Marvel Studious, he only incurs royalties through licensing through other films, and his exec producer fee. Jan 31 '14 at 10:27

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