“Stan Lee is forgetting who I am”: Robert Downey Jr.’s Last Scene With Marvel’s OG Godfather Will Make Even the Haters Believe in True Destiny

Beloved comic book writer-editor-published and producer Stan Lee is one of the most prominent names that come up every time there is talk about Marvel Comics. The late comic book writer was one of the prime creative leaders for Marvel Comics for almost two decades, and his efforts expanded the publishing house division into a multimedia corporation. Stan Lee co-created iconic characters including Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Black Panther, and more.

He is fondly remembered for his cameos in Marvel movies and television shows. Stan Lee, post his retirement from Marvel in the 1990s, remained one of the most popular people for the company. In 1994, Lee was inducted into the comic book industry’s Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. Robert Downey Jr. spoke about his last encounter with Marvel’s godfather.

Robert Downey Jr. recalls his last meeting with Stan Lee

Actor Robert Downey Jr., who plays Tony Stark, a.k.a., Iron Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appeared on Howard Stern Show, where he was asked about his last meeting with Marvel godfather Stan Lee. He said,

One of the last times I saw him, we were shooting Civil War. And in his cameo that day, he’s, I think, a UPS deliveryman, and he had a great line. He goes, ‘I have a package for Tony Stank.’ That was one of the last times I saw him. And the crazy thing was—he said that on the first take, he nailed it.

Downey Jr. continued that they asked for another take, and after that, he started saying, ‘I have a package for Robert, uhh.’ At that moment the actor said everything seemed wild to him, noting that even the guy who created the character he’s playing thinks of him in a moment where he’s talking about the character. Robert Downey Jr. added,

This is so meta. Stan Lee is forgetting who I am at this moment.

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Stan Lee’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War is considered one of the most memorable appearances of the late comic book writer. And it was not just the creator of the character who might have felt that the person in front of him was Iron Man/Tony Stark.

Robert Downey Jr. turned down the cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine

Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman starrer Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the biggest movies of 2024, and the writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick recently released that Downey Jr. declined a cameo in the movie. In an interview with IndieWire, they shared,

We wanted him to do a cameo. Behind the scenes, we didn’t know about the Doctor Doom. And there’s no way he was going to do both. And then we said, ‘Oh Downey, doesn’t say no to Ryan Reynolds, does he? No one says no to Ryan Reynolds.

The writer explained that Reynolds gave Downey Jr. a hard press, and they wrote scenes, and the Iron Man actor read them, but they had no idea about the fact that he’d be returning as Doctor Doom. Rhett Reese revealed that they had planned a scene where Downey would appear as Tony Stark in a scene with Jon Favreau’s character Happy.

Reese added that the two of them would go on to question Wade Wilson’s team player abilities. She explained,

It worked out great. I mean, look; we would have loved to have Downey. But, at the same time, I think Marvel has this ace in their hole, which is he’s about to come back in this different character. So, to have been Tony Star? Knowing that Doctor Doom was coming on the heels of that? It just doesn’t make sense.

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Paul Wernick added that the early version of the scene had included the Avengers rejecting Deadpool with him getting mad and attacking the Avengers viciously. Nicolas Cage’s Johnny Blaze, a.k.a. Ghost Rider, had also passed on the opportunity to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine is playing in cinemas.