Marvel’s Stan Lee Gave Kevin Smith One Condition To Appear In Mallrats

Real-life comic book magnate Stan Lee, much like fictional newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, is a jigsaw puzzle who was many things to many different people, depending on the piece of the puzzle they had. (I’m betting you didn’t expect an article about “Mallrats” to begin with a “Citizen Kane” reference. Well, that makes two of us!) For non-comic book reading folks, he was that funny old guy who kept popping up in Marvel movies and had, apparently, even written a few comics himself. For comic aficionados, on the other hand, he was an undeniably important figure in the history of the medium, but also one who had excelled at mythologizing his personal contributions to Marvel Comics at the expense of others. (Just ask Jack Kirby’s son, Neal Kirby, for more about that.)

Lee was certainly an expert in the art of building an individual brand, which, in that respect, makes Kevin Smith his heir apparent. In point of fact, the filmmaker, actor, comic book writer, podcaster, and surprise transmasculine style icon is a lot like Lee in that he’s arguably as famous for his colorful personality as he is for his actual work (if not more so). Smith has proven equally adept as Lee in the art of self-mythologizing, having now appeared in both film biopics (“Shooting Clerks”) and documentaries (“Clerk”) about the making of his breakout hit “Clerks.” It seems Lee may have inadvertently taught Smith about the value of developing one’s brand, too, as far back as when they collaborated on Smith’s second feature as a director with 1995’s “Mallrats.”

In a video for GQ where he breaks down his most beloved films (including his controversial comedy “Dogma,” which has finally been freed from the clutches of the Weinstein brothers), Smith took a moment to talk about Lee’s involvement with “Mallrats.” As he recalled, Lee wasn’t meant to show up at all until the film’s producer James Jacks suggested Lee (whom Jacks knew) for the role of the nondescript “comic book guru” who dolls out advice to one of the movie’s slacker leads, Jason Lee’s Brodie Bruce, in an early script draft. From there, it was Stan Lee himself who wryly maneuvered his way into having an even larger role in “Mallrats.”

While Stan Lee was never exactly what you’d call a full-blown movie star, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Heck, he would’ve gladly played J. Jonah Jameson (Peter Parker’s infamously gruff, cigar-chomping boss at The Daily Bugle) in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” films had he been asked, as Lee even admitted to the man who would ultimately become the only known Jameson in the multiverse, J.K. Simmons. So, when Smith came calling on him to show up in “Mallrats,” Lee was more than ready and willing, but on one condition: he wanted to have another scene in the movie, although he framed it a little differently than that. Here’s Smith’s blow-by-blow account of how it all went down:

“[…] And he said, ‘Hey, this is Stan Lee,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I know who you are.’ I said, ‘This is crazy, man, like, I grew up listening to you. I’m a huge fan. Big lover of the work, obviously.’ He goes, ‘I could tell, I read the pages. I’m very flattered.’ And I was like, ‘Well, can you do it? Do you want to do it? Come play with us?’ And he goes, ‘Well, here’s the thing, Kevin. You have me in this movie talking about the girl that got away in a very lovely monologue. If I’m in a movie as me, talking about the girl that got away, the girl I got at home will lock the door and not let me back in the house. What I’m suggesting is we put in one more scene where I talk about how I was just kidding. That way Joan Lee won’t be mad.'”

Smith, the big ol’ softie that he is (complimentary), felt that was “incredibly sweet” and obliged Lee by writing another scene for him in “Mallrats.” It was only later, after getting to know Lee better over the decades that followed, that Smith came to realize the old man had played him for a bit of a chump: 

“I’d known him for a long time, and what I found out was Stan was nothing if not brilliant at expanding the brand of Stan. So, Stan figured out how to get one more scene in the movie. Stan didn’t really care about what Joan would have thought. It was a movie. He didn’t give a s***. It was a guy that made up Thor, for God’s sakes. But he was like, ‘You know, this would be a good way to expand my role in the movie.’ So, he was clever. Clever as hell, old Stan Lee.”

Never let it be said that Smith didn’t learn anything useful from his mentor.