Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Director Explains How Stan Lee's Cameo Changed After Wife's Death

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse continues to gain acclaim from critics and fans, thanks to the top-notch animation, stellar characterization, and the best use of "anyone can be Spider-Man" in any medium. The film was also home to a fairly heartbreaking cameo from Stan Lee, which was emotional for the words he said and funny since he was a sleazy businessman who wanted to sell merch.

Turns out that there were a number of versions of that cameo Stan recorded and they ended up choosing the recording that meant the most to Lee since it was recorded a year ago, not long after Joan Lee's death. Co-Director Rodney Rothman spoke about this during an interview with IndieWire, claiming that there versions of Lee's cameo that tried too hard to be funny or a bit mean-spirited.

"The thing that was interesting for us is that it evolved. We recorded it a year ago and it was not that long after his wife [Joan] had passed away. We had versions that tried a little harder to be funnier and tried a little harder to be harder. What ended up in the movie were the lines that had the most meaning to him."

In the end, the version we see is the take that Lee was the most sincere about. When Miles buys the suit and says "can I return it if it doesn't fit?" Lee replies "it always fits...eventually." Though this led to the joke where the sign says no refunds, the line was a bit more sincere and helped with that "anyone can be Spider-Man" message the film had.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is showing now and stars Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Liev Schreiber, Mahersala Ali, Nic Cage, John Mulaney, and Kathyrn Hahn.

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