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Marvel In Jokes

With this week's release of Iron Man, yet another Marvel Comics hero makes the leap to the big screen. The track record thus far has been blockbuster or miss: Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and X-Men have been unqualified hits; Daredevil, The Hulk, and Ghost Rider less so. I'm pulling for Shellhead, and Charles tells me my hopes are justified from his lunchtime excursion today.

One hallmark of a Marvel movie is the cameo of beloved Stan Lee, the creator of so many of these characters. Cameos are a Marvel hallmark, as are clever in-jokes. For instance, in this summer's new Incredible Hulk movie, starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, Robert Downey Jr. makes an appearance as Tony Stark from Iron Man! Heck, this is getting just like the comics! As for Stan Lee, he finds a cameo in all of these films, and this article indicates Iron Man is no exception. In fact, there's a whole YouTube collection of the cameos of Stan The Man; check them out below. My favorite? One I missed: in the otherwise forgettable Hulk, a cameo of not only Stan, but he's alongside the original (and still the best) Hulk, Lou Ferrigno!

Enjoy, True Believers!




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