After 95 uncanny years spent imagining his way to the top of the world, Stan Lee passed away on November 12, 2018. It’s only now that what appears to be the final cameo from the Marvel Comics figurehead is seeing release, and the story of that cameo appearance may surprise you. For one thing, it’s not in a Marvel movie.
If you know Stan Lee, you’ve probably also heard of Jason Mewes – as far as fanbases are concerned, there’s a lot of overlap there. Mewes came up as an actor in the ’90s as the taller, lankier, louder half of Jay and Silent Bob, the dynamic duo of drug dealers who helped tie together the early films of writer-director Kevin Smith – a.k.a. Silent Bob.
After preparing for the project since 2016, Jason Mewes has finally launched his own directorial debut feature, Madness in the Method, to be released in theaters and on-demand on August 2, 2019.
After charting an unexpected path through show business toward status as a bona fide icon, Mewes was able to call on many other pop culture players for help when it came time to direct his own movie. That roster includes Stan Lee, who agreed to shoot what Mewes calls his favorite scene in the movie – not just for the content of the sequence, but for the fact that Lee came out to do the scene at all.
We at Looper sat down with Mewes for an exclusive interview and he described the experience of filming Lee as being, quote, “just surreal.” The opportunity came together in a rapid fashion that required the movie’s crew to rush in three and a half hours early in order to set up Lee’s shots – and for a heartwarming reason, too.
“He had to be out of there by 5:30, because he will not miss dinner with his wife. Every night at 6:00 he has dinner with his wife, and he will not miss that.”
To see what Stan Lee’s scene in Madness in the Method actually entails, you’ll have to watch the movie for yourself. But it shouldn’t be too surprising that the sequence at least partially involves Lee delivering a personal insult to Jason Mewes.
But that animosity is just a product of the screenplay. According to Mewes, the real-life Lee was a saint on set, asking little in return for his appearance in the film. Do you want to know about Stan Lee’s last cameo? Keep watching the video as we show you how Stan Lee’s final cameo isn’t what you’d expect!
#StanLee #JasonMewes
Madness in the Method | 0:19
Stan on set | 1:44
Meeting Mewes | 3:01
Yoga Hosers | 4:19
Excelsior! | 5:31