'The Avengers' actor Clark Gregg and Stan Lee talk about the new film
Joss Whedon鈥檚 is a 鈥渇irst鈥� for Marvel movies in more than one way.听 For example, it鈥檚 the first major motion picture to feature so many significant superheroes. It鈥檚 also , clocking in at two hours and fifteen minutes.
But that doesn鈥檛 mean it won鈥檛 include all the hallmarks of the previous Marvel superhero films, like the and another (scene stealing?) turn by Clark Gregg as fan-favorite Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Recently, Stan Lee discussed his forthcoming cameos in The Avengers, The Amazing , and Iron Man 3, while Clark Gregg talked about his reaction to seeing The Avengers for the very first time.
Here鈥檚 Stan Lee talking about his upcoming cameos, courtesy of :
鈥溾�橳he Avengers鈥� cameo that you will see, when that movie opens up, is possibly one of my best. And you know how good mine have been, but [鈥楾he Avengers] cameo] is so funny. I can鈥檛 tell you what it is because they鈥檇 kill me, but it鈥檚 funny. So is the 鈥榌Amazing] Spider-Man鈥� one, by the way. They鈥檙e deciding to make my cameos a little funnier. They know that鈥檚 what brings the audiences in, of course, so they鈥檝e gotta play them up.鈥�
In regards to a cameo in听, Lee said:
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 done that cameo yet. It鈥檚 almost scary because they just give me a date. They鈥檒l say, 鈥楽tan, come over next Thursday for your cameo,鈥� but they don鈥檛 tell me what it is. So, I show up and they say, 鈥楪o to wardrobe.鈥� In wardrobe, they say, 鈥榃e want to get you a white shirt and a green sweater and a black zippered jacket,鈥� and I鈥檒l say, 鈥楧on鈥檛 bother, I鈥檓 wearing one.鈥� And then, they say, 鈥楤ut, you can鈥檛 wear yours!,鈥� and they look around and get me the exact same thing, but I鈥檓 not allowed to wear my own. And I still don鈥檛 know what my role will be. I go on the set and one minute before we鈥檙e gonna shoot, the director says, 鈥極kay, Stan, this is what I want you to do.鈥� So, I don鈥檛 know what is expected of me, until I get there, but of course, I do it magnificently.鈥�
Honestly 鈥� and I鈥檓 probably in the minority here 鈥� but I鈥檝e gotten to the point where I find these Stan Lee cameos to be more trouble than they鈥檙e worth. Sure, it was vaguely funny at first, but now every time he shows up, I鈥檓 just ripped straight out of the film. How many ways can one man make a cameo in these superhero films?
Obviously, the cameos aren鈥檛 intrusive or annoying enough to irrevocably alter the quality of the films, but the point still stands.
Meanwhile, actor Clark Gregg 鈥� who has co-starred in Iron Man, , Thor, and the upcoming听 鈥� has seen The Avengers. He shared his impressions of the film with , saying:
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited for people to see this movie. I think the fans, like me, will be as excited as I was, when I saw it. From the minute I read Joss Whedon鈥檚 script, I thought, 鈥極h, man, this is going to be fun to do!鈥� The hardest thing to get right is to figure out how to bring all those characters together, and to fulfill the promise of The Avengers. They really set a very high bar for themselves because you鈥檝e been setting this coalition up, for these five movies, and they better deliver. And in my opinion, they thoroughly deliver.鈥�
It goes without saying that Gregg is a paid representative of Marvel and The Avengers, so the film could be terrible and he鈥檚 still not likely to badmouth it. Having said that, it鈥檚 worth noting how obviously enthusiastic the guy is with regard to the material. This man seems to genuinely care听about these properties, about his role as Agent Coulson, and about the effect all of it has had on the fans 鈥� both children and adults alike 鈥� and his career.
Ben Moore blogs at .
