Following the passing of the 95-year-old comic book legend, Stan Lee, Sam Raimi, the director behind the first three Spider-Man films, admitted he didn’t want to add Stan Lee in the film. It was a treat to spot the legend whenever a new Marvel film was made.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”Sam Raimi” link=”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/stan-lee-wasnt-going-get-spider-man-cameo-director-reveals-1161054″ color=”#9c1cb2″ class=”” size=”16″][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.”[/perfectpullquote]

The biggest reason Raimi didn’t care for the idea was because he felt like Lee couldn’t act. He even compared it to adding Shakespere into Macbeth. The scene, however, became his favorite part of the first Spider-Man movie over time. Lee played a citizen who saved a child from falling debris.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”Sam Raimi” link=”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/stan-lee-wasnt-going-get-spider-man-cameo-director-reveals-1161054″ color=”#9c1cb2″ class=”” size=”16″]. . . imagine you’re a minor director in England doing Macbeth and you’re told, “Put the writer in the play.” It sounds absurd.[/perfectpullquote]

This wasn’t the last time he had made an appearance in Raimi’s Spider-Man films as he also appeared in the two others as well. In Spider-Man 2, he played a man who saved a woman from falling bricks, meanwhile, Spider-Man 3 saw Lee in a minor speaking role while talking to Peter Parker.

Lee had been in other Marvel-made movies in the past, like The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and X-Men. But, the Spider-Man cameos really solidified the excitement that people got from looking for the man who has created so many superheroes.Stan Lee then furthered his cameo prowess by appearing in Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America: the First Avenger, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, and more. He even made a cameo in a DC property. In the 2018 film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Lee made a cameo where he makes note that he is doing a cameo, but runs off after finding out it’s a DC film.

Lee will be making two more appearances until his era of cameos comes to an end. These two appearances are in Captain Marvel and Avengers 4. Without Stan Lee, we are saying goodbye to an era of cameos.