Long before Stan Lee cameos became an ever-present Easter egg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the legendary comics creator, who passed away in 2018 at age 95, had his eye on appearing in an entirely different franchise.
A recent Facebook post from former DC writer, editor, and executive Paul Levitz (via thePopVerse) reveals that at the 1989 premiere of Tim Burton’s Batman, Lee asked Batman co-creator Bob Kane if he could make a cameo in its inevitable sequel.
Famously, of course, Lee popped up in dozens of Marvel movies, even prior to the MCU’s official kickoff; he also made numerous appearances in other media, especially comics-adjacent films like Mallrats. Even so, it may seem strange that Lee wanted to appear in a DC movie—though he would eventually lend his voice to DC’s Teen Titans Go! To the Movies in 2018, finally scratching that itch for the rare—but not unprecedented—comics-company crossover.
But you can’t help but wonder: what might the King of Cameos have gotten up to in Gotham City? Remember the sequel Lee was referring to would eventually become Batman Returns, the incredible psychosexual horror show introducing the world to both Michelle Pfieffer’s Catwoman and Danny DeVito’s Penguin. In hindsight, this seems like a huge missed opportunity.
Looking back at the movie, Lee could have played a sewer-dwelling carny, slow-danced to Siouxsie and the Banshees, or even had his nose bitten off by the Penguin (a scene just as haunting to behold three decades later) in a metatextual jab at the competition. A case could even be made Lee would have made a better Commissioner Gordon than Pat Hingle ever did. Lee’s larger-than-life public persona would have made him a natural fit for Gotham City— exactly the sort of creative maniac who’d taker residence in a city largely defined by its larger-than-life criminal element.
What are your thoughts on Lee’s DC dreams? Speculate about his Batman Returns missed potential in the comments.
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