Skip to main content

Captain America meets Stan Lee in latest deleted Avengers scene

Captain America -- Stan Lee
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Yes, we realize that we spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about The Avengers and all things related to it. It’s not because we’re Marvel fanboys (well, mostly) but instead we view the roughly $1.5 billion the movie pulled in at the box office as a strong indicator that The Avengers has captured the cultural zeitgeist. Capitalism tells us that this is what you want to read about, and thankfully, with the Blu-ray release of The Avengers now less than a month away, Marvel Studios is obliging our efforts to ramble on and on about Joss Whedon’s epic by releasing new deleted scenes from the film on what seems like a daily basis.

Remember The Hulk’s existential crisis? How about this jarring alternate opening for the film? Both are included on the Blu-ray iteration of The Avengers, alongside today’s new clip. It’s entitled “Man Out Of Time,” and features a confused Captain America meeting both an attractive woman and the most iconic comic book creator of all time.

Recommended Videos

As Latino Review points out, this scene, along with giving Chris Evans room to flex his bewildered pouting skills, contains a few elements that would have served to flesh out the version of The Avengers we all saw in theaters. To wit: That blonde waitress is the woman saved by Captain America during the film’s climax who is later interviewed by reporters. Theoretically this deleted scene could have propelled her role into that of a love interest for Cap, or at least a familiar human element in a modern world that obviously makes the supersoldier uneasy. Likewise, this scene shows Captain America finally making the connection between Howard Stark (genius inventor and partial co-creator of the process that gave Cap his superpowers) and his son Tony (who you’d know best as Iron Man). Overall it’s a bunch of minor details, but they’re still interesting and could work in the greater overall context of the movie.

More importantly than any of that however is the cameo from legendary comics creator Stan Lee. Sure, Lee has made a habit of appearing in cameo roles in almost every Marvel movie to date, but this one is special. Instead of popping up as a (surprisingly canonically accurate) mailman or some random old person with one meaningless line, Lee actually insults Captain America to his face before resuming lunch. So the guy can punch out Hitler and dismantle the Third Reich, but he can’t ask a cute waitress out to dinner? Stan Lee apparently won’t tolerate such things, and urges Cap to make his move before straight up calling him a “moron.” Say what you will about Lee’s propensity for self-promotion, but you can’t deny that the man is bursting with charisma, and even at age 89 Lee is more than capable of stealing the show from anyone, even the living embodiment of American idealism.

Oh, and those of you growing tired of Avengers coverage can rest easy: This is the last time we’ll be putting together a story specifically about one of these deleted scenes. Granted, if some huge news related to such a thing occurs we’ll have to cover it — that is what they pay us for, after all — but otherwise the next time you watch footage cut from the original version of The Avengers, it will be because you’ve cued it up on your Blu-ray player.

Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
Andor season 2 is coming sooner than a lot of Star Wars fans thought
Cassian stands by a hillside in Andor season 1.

It looks like Lucasfilm may have accidentally revealed the long-awaited premiere date for Andor season 2, and on the Disney+ mobile app, no less. Early Saturday morning, some eagle-eyed users noticed a new date attached to the bottom of the app's Andor streaming tile. The date in question promises that Andor season 2 is coming April 22, 2025.

It isn't just possible but likely that this Disney+ update was made earlier than Lucasfilm planned. Not only was it added to the streaming service's mobile app with no accompanying announcement or comment from Lucasfilm, but Disney is also in the midst of hosting its D23 Brazil convention this weekend. The event has already given fans their first look at Diego Luna's Cassian Andor in Andor season 2, and it's possible that the show's return date was being saved for D23 Brazil as well.

Read more
Kevin Feige reveals when Miles Morales’ Spider-Man could make his MCU debut
Miles shooting his webs in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."

Comic book fans have been wondering for years when Miles Morales might make his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming encouraged those questions by not only marking the beginning of Sony Pictures' ongoing partnership with Marvel Studios, but also by briefly featuring Miles' canonical uncle, Aaron Davis (Donald Glover), who mentions he has a nephew he'd like to look out for in the film.

Marvel hasn't done much since then to set up a potential role for Miles in the MCU, but his popularity as a character has grown exponentially thanks to his leading role in Insomniac Games' Spider-Man video games, as well as the immensely successful animated films Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Now, after at least seven years of waiting, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has given fans a vague idea of when Miles might make his MCU debut.

Read more
The best movies on Peacock right now (November 2024)
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, and Glen Powell stare offscreen at a tornado, probably, in a still from the movie Twisters.

Once again, Peacock has reshuffled its movie lineup. Many of the films that were around in October are gone in November. It is honestly kind of annoying because we prefer the streamers to have consistent lineups. Stability may not be Peacock's strong suit, but it will gain another summer blockbuster this month with Twisters on November 15.

This month, we're also throwing the spotlight on Peacock's other recent arrivals, including Die Hard, Ted, and the 2005 remake of King Kong. For younger fans, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the Harry Potter films are still around, too. You can find these flicks and more in our complete roundup of the best movies on Peacock below. Remember: some films are only available to Peacock subscribers on the two premium tiers.

Read more