If you're one of the millions of people who went out this weekend to watch Captain Marvel, you probably loved the heartwarming Stan Lee tribute right at the start of the film. But why was the late Marvel icon honored so early in the movie? Kevin Feige has an awesome explanation and it's something Lee would truly be proud of.
Feige recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the Marvel Cinematic Universe flick and finally addressed how the Marvel Studios introduction was reinvented to feature Lee's images. Interestingly, the Marvel Studios president admitted that they wanted to do a fun tribute instead of a depressing one right from the start.
"It was soon after he passed, and we were thinking about what to do and how to do it and whether to release something or put something out online. And we figured, as we always have, the way to pay honor to him is the way we've been trying to do while he was alive, which is the movies," Feige said. "I had always thought in the back of my head, should that day ever come -- which as I've previously said, I wasn't sure it would. Like, I envisioned him at 127 -- that I would want something sort of touching and rousing up front, as opposed to sort of depressing at the end."
That certainly makes sense considering Lee's jolly personality. Feige went on to reveal that they had to create the tribute quickly so it could be featured in the final cut of the movie.
"I know that, not specifically but in general, a celebration is what Stan always wanted as opposed to any sort of mournful event. So, it happened very, very quickly soon after we got the unfortunate news," he said. "We put that together and our visual development department, led by Ryan Meinerding, illustrated all those illustrations of him that you see, before we then go into the clips."
The Stan the Man intro wasn't the only time Lee was seen in Captain Marvel. He once again had a cameo in the famous bus scene where he is shown preparing for his appearance in 1995's Mallrats by reading Kevin Smith's script.
Captain Marvel is currently showing in theaters worldwide.
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