There is no shortage of Stan Lee appearances in the Marvel movies over the years. What started as a very sweet gesture to include the influential comic book creator in live-action movies quickly became a staple of any and all Marvel movies released to theaters, right up until the time that Lee passed away in 2019. But now, we are learning that Stan “The Man” didn’t always want a cameo. He wanted a significant role in an early Marvel movie, and it would have changed the trajectory of at least one major Marvel film franchise.
As we all know, Oscar winner J.K. Simmons played legendary Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man saga, dating back to the original Sam Raimi film that kicked everything off. However, I’m hearing for the first time that Stan Lee was upset that he didn’t get asked to play the part in Raimi’s first movie. At least, according to Simmons. The actor ran through his most significant roles for GQ, and when he talked about getting the part for Spider-Man, he opened up by saying:
I had never met Stan and didn't even know – and this is kind of obvious to anybody who's really paying attention, or (is) smarter than I am – that, you know, JJJ was kind of based on Stan. The comic version of himself. He confessed to me at the time that, you know, he was a little jealous that they didn't ask him to play the part in the movie. ‘But having seen you do it, I thought you were fantastic!’ And it was, you know, very nice things. Which, obviously coming from the man, was a great, great compliment.
Back when Sam Raimi was cooking on Spider-Man, anything seemed possible. There was less pressure on a superhero origin story to perform. At least, far less pressure than what faces the slate of upcoming Marvel movies these days. So casting Stan Lee as Peter Parker’s cantankerous boss, J. Jonah Jameson, makes a lot of sense. It’s a knowing wink to fans of the comics. Lee kind of looked the part. On paper, I really dig it.
At the same time, casting Stan Lee in the role would have robbed us of the delicious performance J.K. Simmons gave (and continues to give) as J. Jonah Jameson. A performance so good, they basically just asked him to return when they needed to revive the character in the MCU:
Will J.K. Simmons continue to play J. Jonah Jameson in upcoming Spider-Man projects? We’re not sure, because we don’t even know when a possible Spider-Man 4 might happen. There has been speculation about when the date could be announced, and if the movie is going to affect the two announced Avengers movies, or be a standalone, street-level story. I hope that there’s room for JJJ in the movie, but time will tell.
