True to form, Stan Lee will appear in an episode of the Marvel series Runaways—and the first look at his cameo has arrived. As Marvel Studios continues to expand its reach, the next couple of years will see it grow its presence on the television front beyond ABC and Netflix. Hulu, for instance, could prove the MCU’s next staging ground if Disney acquires 20th Century Fox—giving the House of Mouse a controlling stake in the streaming service. And so far, things are already going well as Runaways has proven to be a critical hit.
Though the adaptation of Runaways changes things from the comics, it still keeps the core elements of the series alive. The kids have yet to runaway, but they’re slowing coming to grips with their powers, burgeoning adulthood, and the fact that their parents are essentially supervillains. A lot of the fantastical nature of the source material has been dialed back, but the show has still forged new ground in the MCU with the arrival of dinosaurs, more magic, and possibly even an alien. But one familiar aspect of Marvel’s films and TV shows is about to make its debut.
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EW revealed Stan Lee will have a cameo in tomorrow’s episode of Runaways, mirroring his efforts on both the big and small screen. Even outside of the MCU, Lee has had many Marvel cameos, appearing in almost every film based on his characters. His upcoming role will be short and sweet, but show runner Josh Schwartz knew he and his team had to make it happen.
“We heard it was something he was potentially interested in doing. Since we shoot in Los Angeles, it seemed more possible that we might be able to get him to come. Then, we created various scenarios that would be fun to pull him into.”
Some of the scenarios the Runaways team considered included making Lee a quirky artist or a Hugh-Hefner-like figure. In the end, they settled on a simple limo driver who will interact with the characters. We’ll have to wait until the episode premieres to see how much impact Lee has on the plot, but it was revealed that the role will be a mysterious one for the icon.
Interestingly, the idea of Lee playing a Hefner analogue wouldn’t be new in the MCU. The acclaimed writer’s first appearance in the shared universe came when he played Hugh Hefner himself in 2008’s Iron Man. Since then, Lee has played a waylaid astronaut, a peeved neighbor, a military man, and has many more cameos on the way. Now, he’ll be able to add limo driver to his CV when Runaways airs ‘Metamorphosis’ on Hulu tomorrow.
NEXT: Runaways: Is This Character A Mole?
Runaways airs Tuesdays on Hulu.
