Stan Lee Passed Away Before Seeing His ‘Ralph Breaks The Internet’ Cameo

Marvel legend Stan Lee is undeniably the king of cameos, giving Alfred Hitchcock a run for his money. Fans will see him next in Ralph Breaks the Internet. Unfortunately, Lee couldn’t watch the film and died before seeing one of his final cameos.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, co-directed by Rick Moore who spoke with The Wrap revealing that Lee did not see his cameo in which he runs into Sarah Silverman’s Vanellope while exploring a Disney themed area.

“He did not see it,” Moore said. “That scene seems very poignant now on his passing, and it’s very special that we were able to have him as part of our film.”

However, Co-director Phil Johnson spoke about a different idea the makers had for Lee, detailing an extended sequence to honour his Marvel legacy.

“For a moment, we had this thing called ‘Marvelize Yourself,’ where the human avatar is able to go through what looks like a metal detector and turn into a Marvel character,” Johnston said. “And as part of that scene, we had Stan Lee go through the Marvelizer. But when we decided to lose that joke and not use the scene, we still wanted to have Stan Lee in the movie, because we love Stan Lee.”

“And we thought it would be appropriate that he does a Stan Lee-type cameo,” added Moore.

Stan Lee passed away at 95 on Monday, causing the world to share their tributes and memories for Lee. Marvel also released a video, paying a tribute to the legend. It showed a clip of Lee himself speaking to the camera from a 1968 television program.

“I’m Stan Lee. I have been writing stories for the young generation for the past 30 years,” Lee said. “During this time I think I’ve learned a lot about what young people think. More importantly, I think I’ve learned a lot about what young people are. We’re going to try to present a voice that somebody will listen to. The voice is needed. We hope it will be ours.”

Earlier, Marvel Creative Officer Joe Quesada talked about a conversation he had with Lee, highlighting his warmth as a human.

“Stan was doing these panels and they asked me to just come up and say hi,” Quesada said. “I felt a little goofy but I came up and shook his hand. I think the microphone caught it but I whispered in his ear, I said ‘hey, they just wanted me to come up here and shake your hand, but while I’m up here I want to say thank you, you saved my life.’ Because the life that I have today, there’s a direct line to that first comic book to here.”