First Steps And Stan Lee's New MCU Cameo Hits Even Tougher

Rewatching The Incredible 4: First Steps on Disney+ simply makes it clear that Stan Lee’s new Marvel Cinematic Universe is much more impactful than I first thought. Stan Lee is the face of Marvel Comics after all of the characters and storylines that he dropped at life. That’s the reason the MCU film timeline is stuffed with Stan Lee cameos.

Table of Contents

Marvel Studios made positive to honor Lee whereas he was alive, with the comedian guide creator having a variety of enjoyable taking part in essentially the most diverse varieties of characters in his cameos. Now, even after Lee’s loss of life, he’s current within the MCU’s 2025 film slate. With The Incredible 4: First Steps‘ arrival on Disney+, rewatching the movie makes me respect Stan Lee’s cameo much more.

Stan Lee Has A Particular Cameo In The Incredible 4: First Steps

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby from the back looking at Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps — Stan Lee and Jack Kirby from the again Silver Surfer in The Incredible 4: First Steps

Stan Lee doesn’t seem within the MCU Incredible 4 film by way of archival footage or CGI, neither is he the face of one other character within the franchise. As a substitute, what Marvel Studios does within the 2025 movie is forged a brand new actor to play Lee himself. Greg Haiste performs a younger Stan Lee in The Incredible 4: First Steps.

He’s joined by Martin Dickinson, who offers life to a younger Jack Kirby within the scene. Lee and Kirby’s collaborations at Marvel Comics had been basic for the corporate’s development, with Kirby lastly being honored in an enormous approach by the MCU, on condition that he died in 1994, over a decade earlier than the MCU got here to be, thus not making cameos like Lee.

The Incredible 4: First Steps sees Lee and Kirby seem when Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer involves New York Metropolis, with Joseph Quinn’s Human Torch scorching on her tail. It homages Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s function in creating the Incredible 4, because the duo is seen of their workplace, with the Well timed Comics (Marvel’s authentic identify) brand on the wall and comedian guide artwork across the room.

Why Stan Lee’s New MCU Cameo Hit Tougher For Me When Rewatching The Incredible 4: First Steps

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in their office looking outside in The Fantastic Four: First Steps — Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of their workplace wanting exterior in The Incredible 4: First Steps

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s MCU cameo was already emotional once I watched The Incredible 4: First Steps in theaters, with the Sixties aesthetic matching when the duo created the workforce within the comics. Nonetheless, upon rewatching the MCU Incredible 4 film on Disney+, seeing what they’re doing within the scene and the context behind it made me respect their cameo much more.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby cease what they’re doing to look out the window on the Silver Surfer and the Human Torch. The scene is all in regards to the duo seeing their creations achieve life exterior, with Lee and Kirby watching on. Given how excited Stan Lee all the time was about Marvel diversifications, it’s heartbreaking that the duo couldn’t watch The Incredible 4: First Steps.

The film stays true to the characters, being a trustworthy illustration of Lee and Kirby’s early Incredible 4 tales. Whereas I want they may have been alive to look at this model of the Incredible 4, the cameo serves that function in a heartfelt approach. It’s a extra private cameo than lots of Lee’s splashier MCU appearances, making The Incredible 4: First Steps particular.

Launch Date: July 25, 2025
Runtime: 115 minutes
Director: Matt Shakman
Writers: Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson, Kat Wooden, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee