(Note: This post contains spoilers for the story of the video game “Marvel’s Spider-Man.”)
Developer Insomniac Games’ new Spider-Man video game isn’t quite a tie-in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling very in line with Marvel Studios’ offerings on film.
“Marvel’s Spider-Man” manages to tell a pretty involved, cinematic story in the medium of a video game. It’s not tied to either “Spider-Man: Homecoming” or its sequel, “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” instead crafting its own original tale based on Spider-Man’s expansive lore. “Marvel’s Spider-Man” does include one all-important element that all the movies of the MCU also have, though: a fun Stan Lee cameo.
The cameo scene comes relatively early in the game, after players are introduced to Peter Parker and his superhero persona, and the circumstances in which he finds himself. The game is set eight years into Spidey’s career as a crime fighter, when he’s fairly well-established as a guy who deals with supervillains. His line of work has cost him, though. By this point in the story, Peter has sacrificed a lot to be Spider-Man, and he’s starting to wonder if he could better serve the world as a guy who doesn’t wear a mask all the time.
In fact, eight years in, Peter’s work as Spider-Man resulted in him losing his relationship with longtime paramour Mary Jane Watson. Apparently, the pair broke up six months before the events of the game and haven’t spoken, but they cross paths again when Mary Jane’s work as an investigative reporter winds up putting her in the middle of a heist that Spider-Man stops.
Afterward, Peter and Mary Jane have dinner at a local restaurant they used to frequent, and talk about the case, as well as their breakup. Peter suggests that he wants to work on their relationship, but Mary Jane is still a little cool on the idea. Still, it’s a step up that the former couple is even talking.
Peter leaves in the middle of the meeting after police cars rip past, leaving Mary Jane to finish up on her own. As she leaves, the restaurant’s short-order cook tells her that he’s glad to see the pair back together, telling them, “You two were always my favorites.”
You can watch the cameo above.
Of course, the cook is none other than the digitized version of Stan Lee. And since Lee helped create Spidey and Mary Jane, along with Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby, and wrote for the comics as well, the moment has Lee directly addressing one of his creations and talking about how much he likes the idea of two fan-favorite characters together.
While there are a lot of fun and funny Stan Lee cameos out there in the Marvel movies, the one in “Marvel’s Spider-Man” ranks among the best. It might not be the most hilarious of the cameos, but the earnestness of Lee talking to, and about, beloved characters he’s created makes it a heartwarming one.