Technically it’s a minor spoiler for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but thanks to a small scene in that film, it’s now been confirmed that all of Stan Lee’s cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been the same character. In one of Lee’s two brief appearances in the movie (which premieres stateside this weekend, but is already out internationally) he is seen talking to a group of Watchers and mentions posing as a Federal Express delivery driver.
This, of course, is a direct reference to Lee’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War. The fact that Lee’s character is talking to Watchers is no coincidence, and heavily implies that Lee is playing Uatu (a Watcher from Marvel comics assigned to monitor Earth’s superheroes).
There’s been a long running fan theory that Lee was playing Uatu, and this is specifically what the film makers were referencing when they included this scene. When speaking with Screen Rant, Kevin Feige was specicially asked about the fan theory and if Lee was playing Uatu:
Yes, we always thought it would be fun. Stan Lee clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films. 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 – 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. 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.
While it doesn’t really affect the plot of the MCU in any way, it’s a nice connecting thread and nod to fans to include this bit of fanon into the official continuity. It also means that rather than a fourth wall break, Lee’s constant appearances are now actually a piece of important storytelling. That small difference makes things feel more connected rather than taking you out of the films.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 comes out in U.S. theaters May 4th.
Via Screen Rant
