Ranking Every Non-Marvel Stan Lee Movie Cameo

The first entry of our list may not actually be the worst per se, but because Stan Lee himself does not provide his unmistakable voice, and the cameo is of the blink-and-miss-it variety, we can't justify putting it any higher. But in the 2018 Disney sequel "Wreck It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet," a digital avatar of Stan Lee himself pops up in the virtual world. In a film awash in cameos of all kinds — from "Star Wars" and "Marvel" characters to the Muppets and even pop group "Imagine Dragons," Lee's appearance here makes more sense than in most of the other film's he's appeared. 

The sequel film sees Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) diving inside the internet to find a replacement steering wheel control for their arcade cabinet. They find it easily enough but need to collect the money to pay for it, and in the process, Ralph becomes an online sensation. In their travels, Vanellope heads to the Disney section of the web and has a run-in with some Stormtroopers from "Star Wars" before taking a walk down a busy street, where she bumps into the stylized digital version of Lee. 

Sadly, Lee himself would pass away just days before the film's wide release, making his non-speaking appearance in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" that much more of a delight — and sobering sight — for longtime Lee fans.

Though the movie is one of the worst you're likely to see, even considering its intended child audience, Stan Lee's inexplicable cameo in "The Adventures of Cinderella's Daughter" is worth keeping an eye out for. The film, which is produced with stilted actors, an abominable script, and daytime soap opera levels of production quality, centers on — you guessed it — Cinderella's daughter, who is forbidden from attending a commoners' ball and must be bailed out by a fairy godparent.

But it's during the big wedding scene at the end that we get an appearance from Lee — for no discernible reason — who plays the priest presiding over the ceremony. In courtly dress, Stan the Man officiates, and it's all pretty standard, boring stuff until the prince, Gregory, bolts from the altar to the side of Cinderella's daughter just when he's supposed to say "I do." The funny part comes in when Gregory pronounces his love for Cindy, and Mr. Marvel, as the officiating priest, points down and hurriedly asks, "Do you take her, and do you take him?"

Whether it's intended to be a joke or not, Lee's delivery of the rushed proposal is sure to get a chuckle from true believers everywhere.

"Goddamn Yoga Hosers!" Kevin Smith strikes again, casting Stan Lee in his 13th feature film, "Yoga Hosers." Written and directed by Smith, it would be the second film he'd draft Lee for a part in, though this time it would be just a brief but memorable 30-second cameo. The film, starring Johnny Depp's daughter Lily-Rose, and Smith's daughter, Harley Quinn, tells the story of two teen girls who face off with a long-lost Canadian Nazi who commands an army of miniature bratwurst warriors. To defeat him, they ally themselves with a notorious manhunter named Guy LaPointe (Johnny Depp).

While escaping the demonic little Nazi sausages, the two girls give a frantic call to police, desperate for help. But to their utter disappointment, the officer who answers is a bright-eyed and somewhat naive old man, played by Lee. Smith uses Lee's comic wit to its best effect, as the doddering and out-of-touch first responder is more interested in monologuing about Dr. Doom and Darth Vader than sending cops to lend a hand to the two girls. Eventually, they hang up, and Stan is left holding the bright red receiver and cursing out the young yoga hosers.

Stan 'The Man' Lee, in a Walt Disney film, years before the studio was associated with Marvel? It happened all right, and it was in perhaps the unlikeliest of places: the 2002 family comedy sequel "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement." While many might remember the movie for being the film debut of future "Star Trek" star Chris Pine, Stan Lee's cameo makes it even more noteworthy. In the film, Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway) has graduated from Princeton University but cannot become queen of Genovia unless she finds a husband in 30 days — enter the charismatic and handsome Nicholas (Pine).

At the ultimate wedding, Stan Lee turns up in a momentary cameo as an awkward wedding guest who learned English from watching "The Three Stooges" and makes a terribly inappropriate joke at the expense of Hollywood legend Julie Andrews; he makes an unwitting pass at the screen icon, wishing it could be him up on the altar marrying her instead. Lee even fakes a foreign accent for the role, making it one of his more amusing appearances in a non-Marvel movie.

Though the role may seem like it's out of left field, Lee's own website credits the cameo to his friendship with the film's director, Garry Marshall, who had once held discussions about adapting some of Lee's creations for the silver screen. While he may not have gotten the adaptation he was looking for, it led to one of his best cameos.

It might not be the funniest or most fan-pleasing cameo, but Stan Lee's appearance in the 1990 comedy action thriller "The Ambulance" was his first film role and one that was surprisingly not so out-of-place. The film centers on a young comic book artist who works for Marvel Comics named Josh Baker (Eric Roberts), whose friend (Janine Turner) disappears after calling for an ambulance when she falls ill. When the cops aren't helpful, Baker takes it upon himself to track her down. James Earl Jones and Meghan Gallagher also star.

Given the story of the film, it should come as no shock that Lee turns up while Baker is at work, sitting in the mighty Marvel bullpen. From his desk, Baker calls authorities looking for information on his girlfriend and gets no help. In this timeline, Stan Lee is still apparently editor-in-chief of Marvel (in reality, per The New York Times, he'd moved to California in the 1980s and became more of a functioning figurehead, negotiating movie and TV deals for the company from his home on the West Coast). When he sees Baker on the phone, he asks if he's going to be getting any work done, before the artist tells him about his missing girlfriend. 

Unfortunately, Stan doesn't want to hear it, and he warns Baker that his personal problems need to be dealt with on his personal time. But even when Lee is acting as a hard-nosed boss, he still has his customary charm.

Without a doubt, writer and director Kevin Smith's "Clerks" follow-up, "Mallrats," is far and away Stan Lee's best film outside of Marvel movies, and there are few who would argue. It's not just because the 1995 film gives us Lee's finest acting work and elicits plenty of side-splitting laughs, either. It's because, on top of all that, Lee actually plays an important role in the story, a pivotal part that helps propel Jason Lee's character Brodie to fight for his girlfriend's love.

In the extended cameo, Brodie bumps into the comic creator at a shopping mall while he's at his lowest. At first, Brodie is starstruck and proceeds to ask the Marvel editor several inappropriate questions about the heroes he created and their ... unmentionables. After deftly dodging his unseemly and quarrelsome queries, Lee pivots to the subject of dating. He tells a story about having lost his one true love. Inspired by Lee's passionate tale of chasing tail — in competition with Mick Jagger, no less — while he'd always opined for the one who got away, Brodie is spurred to action.

But after Brodie leaves, Lee tells T.S. Quint (Jeremy London) that Brody "bought it." Lee's elaborate yarn turns out to be nothing more than a similar speech he'd once written for an issue of "Spider-Man," though he warns that Brodie's odd obsession with superhero private parts may require a little therapy. It's an unforgettable cameo from a comic book legend.