Director Sam Raimi, known for Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3, told THR that although he loves it now, he originally thought Stan Lee having a cameo in Spider-Man was not a good idea.
“I got the job for Spider-Man in 1999,” Raimi said. “And [Marvel head] Avi Arad said, ‘I want you to put Stan in the movie.’ And I was like, ‘No. I know Stan, and he can’t act.’ And Avi was, ‘I want him in the movie. We did it for X-Men, we’re doing it here.’ Now imagine you’re a minor director in England doing Macbeth and you’re told, ‘Put the writer in the play.’ It sounds absurd. ‘Fine, you want Shakespeare in the play, I’ll put Shakespeare in the play.’ Now it’s one of my favorite parts in the movie.”
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Raimi’s relationship with Lee began in the early 90’s when Lee called Raimi and said he liked Darkman. Lee took him out to lunch and said they should work together on something. The two ended up writing treatments together for a Thor movie, which they pitched to Fox.
“[They said] Absolutely no. Comic books don’t make good movies,” Raimi said. “This was in 1991.”
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To read more about the life of Stan Lee, read IGN’s piece on the legacy that truly was the iconic Marvel comics man who inspired so many throughout his life, and see the outpouring of gratitude the comics and hollywood community shared on social media following the news Monday.
Jessie Wade is a news writer for IGN who appreciates everything Stan Lee created and those he influenced. Connect with her on Twitter @jessieannwade.