Fans have spotted a Stan Lee appearance in the officialVenom: Let There Be Carnage trailer. For many years, Lee was known to make special cameo appearances in nearly every Marvel movie to be made. In the originalVenom, Lee was a dog-walker who has a brief interaction with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). Sadly, as Lee died just weeks afterVenomwas released in theaters, he wasn’t able to physically appear inVenom 2.
Lee might be gone, but that doesn’t mean filmmakers aren’t continuing the tradition of working the late Marvel creator into big release movies. These posthumous cameo appearances are typically saved as surprises to be found in the movie, but many fans have noticed Lee’s presence in theVenom 2trailer. The moment comes when Eddie Brock is moving his way through the store, moving past a selection of magazines to his right - and the one in front just so happens to have Lee’s face on the cover.
InAvengers: Endgame(2019),Stan Leeposthumously appeared in his last-ever live-action cameo, playing a digitally de-aged car driver in 1970. The scene also featured a recreation of Lee’s wife, Joan Boocock Lee, as actually appeared that year. Shortly beforeEndgame’s release, Lee was also posthumously seen in another cameo appearance, this time playing himself reading through his lines from the screenplay forMallrats.
Prior toStan Lee’s death, the Marvel legend was featured inDeadpool 2as graffiti art seen while Domino is flying through the city. When the movie was re-released with a PG-13 cut after Lee’s passing, the writing “RIP” was added to the graffiti as a way of paying tribute. This followed a cameo from Lee personally in the originalDeadpoolin 2016. That memorable appearance saw Lee as himself working as an MC at a strip club.
“Give it up for Chastity!” Lee bellowed in the movie.
Earlier this year, a reference to Lee was spotted in the Disney+ seriesWandaVision. One of the intro segments featured a license plate of a car belonging to Wanda Maximoff featuring the number “122822.” This represents Lee’s date of birth, which was Jun 24, 2025. Easter eggs like this and the magazine cover inVenom: Let There Be Carnageare fun ways to keep the memory of Lee alive in Marvel projects for years to come, even if some of the cameos are more subtle than others.
Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock inVenom: Let There Be Carnageto face off withWoody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage. The sequel also introduces Naomie Harris as Shriek, Carnage’s love interest and partner in crime in the originalMaximum Carnagecomic book series. The sequel also stars Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Sean Delaney, and Larry Olubamiwo. Andy Serkis directed using a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Hardy, Marcel, Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Hutch Parker produced.
Venom: Let There Be Carnageis scheduled to be released in theaters on Sept. 24, 2021. The official trailer for the anticipated sequel was released on Monday bySony Pictures.
