Meanjin

The Finest New Writing in Australia

Your account

Sign in
  • In Print
  • Online Only
    • Latest Pieces
    • Reading Trails
    • What I’m Reading
  • Read
    • The Meanjin Papers
    • Poetry
    • Essays
    • Fiction
    • Memoir
    • The Meanjin Interviews
    • Experiments
    • State of the Nation
    • The Year In…
  • Books
    • Reviews
    • Australia in Three Books
    • What I’m Reading
  • Writers
    • Interviews
  • Buy
    • Subscribe
    • Where to buy
  • News
    • Announcements
    • Events
  • About
    • About Meanjin
    • First Peoples First
    • People
    • Editorial Advisory Panel
    • Copyright and Payment
    • Partners
    • Get Involved
    • Contact
    • Privacy
  • Search

The Marvel That Was Stan Lee

Ben Pobjie

14 November 2018

Stan Lee has 121 acting credits on IMDB, which is impressive for someone who never was an actor.

Throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the X-Men and Spider-Man franchises, he was always there. The Astonished Man With Hose. The Bus Driver. The Museum Guard. The Old Guy Yelling Out The Window. But his greatest cameo, in my opinion, is one that young fans of the MCU probably have no idea of: playing himself in 1995’s Mallrats. In this unforgettable scene, the comic book king offers sage life advice to Jason Lee (no relation), who quizzes him relentlessly about superheroes’ genitalia. As an insight into Lee’s character, it might be completely useless, but it cemented in my mind the image of Stan Lee as a wise and twinkly grandad who was up for anything. That appearance, and all his subsequent cameos, won hearts because they showed a man who, after all he’d achieved, was determined to have as much fun as possible.

Embrace Australia’s finest writers

Meanjin is open again for subscriptions! Thank you all for your patience as we’ve undertaken the transfer of the journal to its new home.

The next edition of Meanjin will be available from December 2026. Information on the purchase of single editions – in print or ePub formats – will be available closer to time.

To stay in touch with our latest news, please sign up here.

Search Meanjin

Most Recent Edition

Search Meanjin

Site by Madeleine Egan

  • In Print
  • Online Only
    • Latest Pieces
    • Reading Trails
    • What I’m Reading
  • Read
    • The Meanjin Papers
    • Poetry
    • Essays
    • Fiction
    • Memoir
    • The Meanjin Interviews
    • Experiments
    • State of the Nation
    • The Year In…
  • Books
    • Reviews
    • Australia in Three Books
    • What I’m Reading
  • Writers
    • Interviews
  • Buy
    • Subscribe
    • Where to buy
  • News
    • Announcements
    • Events
  • About
    • About Meanjin
    • First Peoples First
    • People
    • Editorial Advisory Panel
    • Copyright and Payment
    • Partners
    • Get Involved
    • Contact
    • Privacy
  • Search