Rewatching The Improbable 4: First Steps on Disney+ simply makes it clear that Stan Lee’s new Marvel Cinematic Universe is much more impactful than I first thought. Stan Lee is the face of Marvel Comics after all of the characters and storylines that he dropped at life. That’s the reason the MCU film timeline is filled with Stan Lee cameos.
Marvel Studios made certain to honor Lee whereas he was alive, with the comedian e-book creator having a variety of enjoyable taking part in essentially the most assorted kinds of characters in his cameos. Now, even after Lee’s demise, he’s current within the MCU’s 2025 film slate. With The Improbable 4: First Steps‘ arrival on Disney+, rewatching the movie makes me admire Stan Lee’s cameo much more.
Stan Lee Has A Particular Cameo In The Improbable 4: First Steps
Stan Lee doesn’t seem within the MCU Improbable 4 film by archival footage or CGI, neither is he the face of one other character within the franchise. As an alternative, what Marvel Studios does within the 2025 movie is solid a brand new actor to play Lee himself. Greg Haiste performs a younger Stan Lee in The Improbable 4: First Steps.
He’s joined by Martin Dickinson, who offers life to a younger Jack Kirby within the scene. Lee and Kirby’s collaborations at Marvel Comics had been elementary for the corporate’s development, with Kirby lastly being honored in an enormous method by the MCU, on condition that he died in 1994, over a decade earlier than the MCU got here to be, thus not making cameos like Lee.
The Improbable 4: First Steps sees Lee and Kirby seem when Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer involves New York Metropolis, with Joseph Quinn’s Human Torch scorching on her tail. It homages Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s position in creating the Improbable 4, because the duo is seen of their workplace, with the Well timed Comics (Marvel’s authentic title) brand on the wall and comedian e-book artwork across the room.
Why Stan Lee’s New MCU Cameo Hit Tougher For Me When Rewatching The Improbable 4: First Steps
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s MCU cameo was already emotional after I watched The Improbable 4: First Steps in theaters, with the Nineteen Sixties aesthetic matching when the duo created the staff within the comics. Nevertheless, upon rewatching the MCU Improbable 4 film on Disney+, seeing what they’re doing within the scene and the context behind it made me admire their cameo much more.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby cease what they’re doing to look out the window on the Silver Surfer and the Human Torch. The scene is all concerning the duo seeing their creations acquire life exterior, with Lee and Kirby watching on. Given how excited Stan Lee at all times was about Marvel diversifications, it’s heartbreaking that the duo couldn’t watch The Improbable 4: First Steps.
The film stays true to the characters, being a trustworthy illustration of Lee and Kirby’s early Improbable 4 tales. Whereas I want they might have been alive to observe this model of the Improbable 4, the cameo serves that position in a heartfelt method. It’s a extra private cameo than lots of Lee’s splashier MCU appearances, making The Improbable 4: First Steps particular.
- Launch Date
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July 25, 2025
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Matt Shakman
- Writers
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Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson, Kat Wooden, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
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Reed Richards / Mister Improbable
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Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / Invisible Lady