Stan Lee's cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe explained

King of making appearances in Marvel films, Stan Lee is no stranger to random cameos in comic book movies. Given his long history of such appearances, however, are his cameos all that random? Or do they all lead up to one side story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)? Having made cameos in several MCU films and embodying different characters and occupations (from a guard at the Smithsonian in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” to a bartender in 2015’s “Ant-Man”), it seems as if Lee has portrayed a different persona in each of his appearances. As of recent events, however, it seems that this is not the case after all.

[Warning: spoilers for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” ahead.] Lee’s most recent cameo took place in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” in which he was telling a story to a group of Watchers. The anecdote he shared had a mention of his time on Earth moonlighting as a FedEx delivery man. As some fans may recall, Lee’s cameo in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War” had him in the aforementioned occupation. With this into account — along with Lee’s character being in the presence of Watchers — it appears that the fan theory stating that Lee is a Watcher himself in the MCU may in fact be canon.

This is further reinforced by Screen Rant’s interview with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. When asked if Lee’s character is actually the same person in all of his MCU films, especially after his appearance in “Vol. 2,” Feige responded that such a notion should not be so easily dismissed.

“Certainly something to be considered,” Feige said regarding the possibility of Lee being one person in the MCU. “We shot a lot in that moment when he came down to Atlanta to film that. Let’s just say he, Stan Lee, is certainly a different type of entity within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who can hang out with the Watchers and tell them stories about all his cameos.”

Though Lee has made consistent appearances in the MCU, he also makes cameos in other Marvel films that aren’t under the Marvel Studios umbrella. Previously, he showed up in 2016’s "Deadpool,” a film whose movie rights belong to 20th Century Fox.