Up until his passing, Stan Lee cameos were as ubiquitous as post-credit scenes in Marvel movies. The co-creator of Fantastic Four and Spider-Man often popped by for some words of wisdom or a cheeky wink and a nod at his storied history. Even though he’s gone, his presence can still be felt – including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene in the new Venom 2 trailer. Excelsior!
The moment in question sees Eddie Brock (and Venom) walk into a convenience store. Brock may be concerned with a chocolate delivery, but Venom notices something out of the corner of his, uhh, tentacle.
Venom straightens Stan Lee’s magazine♥️ pic.twitter.com/pl8UfGUdApMay 10, 2021
Notice the magazine rack? Stan Lee’s face is adorning the cover of the mags, and Venom straightens the display up. It’s a cute, subtle action that allows Stan Lee to ‘appear’ in yet another Marvel movie.
As WandaVision proved with its license plate-themed tribute to Stan the Man, Marvel is getting increasingly inventive at finding new ways to include Stan Lee in its runtimes. Here’s another – and follows on from one of Lee’s final cameos in 2018's Venom. There, Stan tells Eddie not to give up Anne, becoming one of the few in-universe characters to recognize Venom as its own entity.
Venom 2, meanwhile, isn’t skimping on the extra details that tie it into the Marvel world-at-large. There is a quick reference to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, while Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady has finally revealed his Carnage form to the world. We'll see what else the Andy Serkis-directed sequel has in store when it hits cinemas this September.
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