Has Stan Lee Been Playing the Same Character in Every Marvel Movie?
There's an interesting and cool theory that I recently came across that suggests all of the cameos that Marvel co-founder Stan Lee has had in the Marvel movies could actually be the same character.
The cameos that Lee has made in all of these films over the years are meant to pay tribute to the man who created so many of these amazing characters. But, what if there was a little more to it than that?
The theory suggests that the Marvel cinematic version of Stan Lee is actually Uatu, also known as The Watcher, but in human form. Apparently, this theory has been floating around for awhile now, but I just came across it over on Cinemablend.
For those of you not familiar with The Watcher, he was created by Lee and Jack Kirby in the early 1960s. He's one of the oldest beings in the Marvel Universe, and is part of a race that watches over and observes the universe. The character records everything that happens, and he's specifically assigned to watch over the events of Earth, but he doesn’t involve himself in its affairs.
This would explain why Lee's character happens to be around all of the superhero action in the cinematic universe. Now, we know the character is assigned to specifically watch over the events of Earth, so how do we explain Lee's appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy? Well, he's obviously keeping his eye on Peter Quill, who is from Earth, and he knows that he has an important future role in the universe and what happens to Earth.
One of the coolest parts about this theory is that in a very small way it establishes a multiverse that connects all of the Marvel franchises that Lee has appeared in. That means even though separate studios own certain rights to different characters, there is still a connection within the cinematic universe.
I don't think we'll ever see studios like Marvel, Fox, and Sony working together to crossover any of the characters they own the rights too. Even if you don't buy into the whole Watcher theory, in a way, that connection is still there with the cameos Stan Lee has made.