| Stan Lee is the first in a series of exclusive interviews celebrating the release of Spider-Man in theaters May 3rd, 2002.
BY DAVID SERVER |"I
FEEL LIKE I'M TALKING TO JESUS."
Those were the words of one fan as he was given the opportunity to ask
Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee a question at the Q&A session at the
LA Sci-Fi & Comic Book convention this past weekend. And while it
may sound extreme, in the comics world, Stan Lee is certainly in the same
circle as the big J. Between creating The Hulk, the X-Men, and the Fantastic
Four (to name a few), Stan is pretty much responsible for all the big
guns in the Marvel Comics world. So I was understandably nervous when
I walked into the brightly lit room upstairs to interview the legendary
Stan 'The Man' Lee.
The first question was an obvious one: now that Spidey is finally hitting
the silver screen, and you've seen the movie...how the heck was it?
"I LOVED IT," Stan replied without a moments hesitation. He
then continued, "I loved it as the creator, but I also just loved
it as a fan. Purely as a fan watching the movie, it was so exciting. I
only saw a rough cut, but it was phenomenal."
Stan also had great praise for actor Tobey Maguire, who Stan has been
quoted as saying might not have been his first choice - until he saw the
young actor's performance in the film. "[Tobey] was just so natural
and so believable. He seemed like he wouldn't be the first guy the girl's
would chase around; maybe a science major."
And while Stan liked what he saw when it came to the movie, there's one
thing you won't be seeing come May 3rd: Stan's cut cameo in the film.
"I was a sunglasses vendor on the street, and I was selling sunglasses
to a little girl, and I see Peter walk down the street in Times Square.
And I stop and turn to him and I say, "Hey Kid! Want some of these?
They're the glasses that were in X-Men!" and I think that scene would
have been hilarious, it would have gotten the biggest reaction from the
crowd. Then, the Goblin came and dropped a bomb on the stand and we all
went running, and after we shot it I said to Sam, "Wait, this isn't
right.' Because I should pick up the little girl and carry her with me.
I wouldn't have left a little girl standing there on her own."
"So we tried it my way, and I went to try and pick her up and I just
couldn't! She wouldn't budge! I swear, it's as though she were nailed
to the ground! And we kept trying and trying, and I just couldn't do it.
So Sam tells me, 'If we do it your way, it's going to be a mini-series.'
So eventually we just had me take the little girl by the hand and run
off with her that way. But in the end it was cut, because it took too
much time. But I think fans really would have liked it. But I think they
just cut it because if people had seen me they would have complained that
I wasn't the star of the film. I should have played Jameson, I would have
been perfect for that. But the guy they have is great, he did a fantastic
job. I'm still in there a little, in a crowd scene you'll see my face
I'm sure."
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Luckily, though, Stan was somewhat involved in the part of the film that
he knows best: he wrote the official comic book adaptation for the movie.
"It was great [getting back to the character,]" said an enthusiastic
Lee. And I'm sure Spidey fans will agree.
After 3 exclusive clips from his upcoming Simpsons cameo (I wouldn't dare
spoil them, but be sure to tune in!), they played the four Spider-Man
trailers (two theatrical, two television), and then Stan and current 'Spider-Man'
comic artist John Romita Jr. launched into a public Q&A - here's some
of what they had to say:
On Batman vs. Spider-Man:
"One of my great regrets is that I was friends with [Batman Creator]
Bob Kane, and we would always argue about who was the better hero, Batman
or Spider-Man. And he would say, "No question! We have three movies!"
I only wish he were here today!"
On Which Was Stan's Favorite Comic:
"Whichever comic I was working on at the time was the best to me.
I loved 'em all."
On Green Goblin's new Costume:
JrJr: "You'll have to talk to [Spider-Man director] Sam Raimi about
that."
Stan: "We've got a good arangement here, I'll give you all the tough
questions."
When asked what his catchphrase, Excelsior, actually means, Lee responded that it loosely translates to 'Onwards and Upwards to Greatness!'. Unfortunately, he said, it also (according to the dictionary) is the name of the wooden shavings that are used in packaging. Oops!
On Veto Power on Spidey Comics:
"I never told anyone what to do after I left the book. No one ever
told me how to write it, I didn't want to tell anyone else."
After the Q&A session, Stan and Romita hunkered down with the fans
and signed autographs. Well, that's all for now from the Countdown to
Spider-Man.
Hope you enjoyed the interview, True Believer! Excelsior! Check out the Spider-Man Stand-A-Thon in Los Angeles here! (Stan Lee's reaction to the fans was "Why aren't you already in line?")
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