Stan Lee is Uatu the Watcher
It's the only possible explanation for how he's always around when the superheroes are doing something important (even in Thor, which takes place on the other side of the country from the other movies). The fact that he makes appearances in the Daredevil, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Spider-Man Trilogy movies (which don't take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) is just proof that he's capable of traveling to alternate worlds in the Multiverse. Also, consider the fact that he makes his cameo in Daredevil when Matt Murdock is still a child, and in X-Men: The Last Stand when Jean Grey is still a child, but appears to be the same age that he is when he's in all of the other movies — it's proof that he's immortal and ageless. Not to mention that he probably either dies or becomes mortally ill in The Incredible Hulk when he drinks a soda laced with gamma radiation, but appears alive and in excellent health in subsequent films.- He has also been spotted during World War II, and in the present time without having aged a day.
- And of course, he can influence others to see him as different people. Tony alternately sees him as Hugh Hefner and Larry King.
- Confirmed, though not Uatu as of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He has a cameo as a Watcher according to the credits, specifically a Watcher-Informant.
Stan Lee is a Time Lord
Or there's that...Stan Lee is God.
In the life of every Marvel hero, he appears (sometimes even twice), he hasn't aged a bit since the 1940s (where he took on the identity of an Army General). After The Incredible Hulk, it's obvious he faked his death (or something) and moved to New Mexico to get away from the business of life in Tony Stark's world. Plus, he's constantly somewhere new all the time. So, he's the MU's avatar of God on Earth, watching silently, living like one of us.- Confirmed. Decades ago. Marvel, as a franchise in general, does have "The-One-Above-All," who is above all the Cosmic Beings and so on, even the Gods. Stan Lee being a Marvel writer is part of the One-Above-All, as are all Marvel writers and artists and staff.
All of the Stan Lee cameos have been Skrulls
They're having some issues with human shapeshifting and Stan's form is the easiest one to take. When the Avengers fight them, they will see an army of Stan Lees that will shout "Excelsior" upon engaging them. Stan Lee is The Beyonder
Stan Lee is leaping.
He got stuck in some bizarre time travel experiment, and now leaps from movie to movie, hoping that the next movie will be the movie home. Stan Lee is the Impossible Man.
Not the Marvel character. This is a reference to the Impossible Girl from Doctor Who. Clara Oswald got into The Doctor's timestream, and copies of her were scattered throughout time and space. Maybe Stan Lee went through something similar, thus explaining why he shows up in every movie. Stan Lee has the Time Gem.
At some point he found it, and decided to screw around with the Gem for lulz. As a result, he still ages but gets to be in every movie. Presumably he can hold onto it because he's that awesome.- It was in the Eye of Agamotto. Maybe he is Agamotto, the Sorcerer Supreme who first found and meddled with the Time Gem so much that he ended up being split across time, quietly just present at every major event in all of time.
Stan Lee is ...Stan Lee
Stan Lee, at least in the cameos set in the present day, is, in fact, Stan Lee, the Stan Lee of a universe that never had a Marvel Comics. Without having a career in comic books and being the face of worldwide nerdity, this Stan Lee spends his time bumming around America in his pick-up truck and doing odd jobs like museum security guard or Larry King impersonator.- Confirmed! ...At least twice. First Doctor Strange passes a bus with him on board, reading one of the books that he claimed inspired what he wrote in the Doctor Strange comics. And, Captain Marvel meets him on another bus, in the nineties, reading a script for his cameo on Kevin Smith's film, Mallrats.
Stan Lee in modern times is descendant of Stan Lee from The First Avenger and Agent Carter
So, they are not same person. It's a case of Identical Grandson. I have no idea about Xandarian Stan Lee, though.- The modern Stan Lee is the grandson of that Stan Lee. Modern Lee was already in the same boot camp as Steve Rogers. It explains why he's having drinks with Rogers in Age of Ultron, since they already knew each other.
- The Xandarian Stan Lee is actually modern Stan Lee's identical relative who's abducted by aliens, and is happy living on Xandar. The one that was poisoned in The Incredible Hulk is another relative. The guard that got killed in Hulk is also a relative. And so is the mental patient in Thor: The Dark World.
- The neighbor of the Greys in X-Men: The Last Stand is also related.
- Willie Lumpkin is a distant relative. The old man young blind Matt Murdock saved is also a relative.
Stan Lee is Batman
Because I'm BATMAN! The Stan Lee cameos tell the story of a not-so-gifted con-artist.
At least some of them are the same guy...- The Incredible Hulk: Briefly lived with relatives in Wisconsin on his way out west. Got a sizable settlement from a Brazilian soda company after getting very mild Hulk syndrome.
- Iron Man 1 & 2: Will occasionally pose as (elderly) celebrities to gain access to parties.
- Thor: Briefly hid in the desert to avoid heat after getting caught posing as Larry King.
- Avengers: Decided to head to New York to seek more con jobs there. Wound up on the news.
- Daredevil/Jessica Jones: Briefly posed as a cop while in New York and was caught but fled before he could be arrested. They keep his picture in his former precinct's office as a warning not to trust him if he ever comes back.
- Iron Man 3: Gained good rapport in a small town and became a judge at a beauty pageant.
- The Dark World: Caught for unknown crimes in London but feigned confusion in order to avoid conviction. Was instead briefly institutionalized. Much easier for him to escape from.
- Winter Soldier: Worked as a night guard at a museum in D.C. Fled after the museum was robbed before he could do so himself, fearing he would be investigated and his own criminal activity discovered.
- Age of Ultron: Posed as a war vet. May or may not have been true.
- Captain America: Was discovered when he tried to use a photograph of this character as proof that he fought in World War II due to his resemblence, even though he would have been considerably younger in the 1940's.
- Ant-Man: Hid out in California again, working as a bartender as he waits for another opportunity.
In a work set before Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Stan Lee will be a Federal Express guy.
Possibly in a work set in 1971 or slightly after the founding of FedEx, Stan Lee will deliver a package to one of that era's people of interest (Hank Pym for example), and note "That was easy. I should use this disguise more often." Stan Lee is able to travel between different realities
Ok this is obviously wishful thinking on my part, but just imagine how cool it would be if the MCU Stan is the same guy who also cameo'd in the non-MCU Marvel movies, like in the Spider-Man Trilogy, the X-Men Film Series etc- Confirmed. Stan Lee's MCU cameos are canonically all the same Watcher. Now that includes multiverses, which also includes the Fox and Sony films about Marvel Supers that include Stan Lee cameos.
Stan Lee is old Steve Rogers after Avengers: Endgame.
After having lived a full life with Peggy and passing the shield into Sam, Steve decides to have some fun with the spacetime GPS. Attending his own Medal of Honor ceremony, trying to move Mjolnir with a truck, pranking Tony, and so on. This would also explain why he would be telling the Watchers about the time he was an FedEx guy despite Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 taking place before Captain America: Civil War. Stan Lee can travel to different universe.
This is where he got his inspiration from. All these Cameos in the MCU were him just using his ability to help created the MCU or to having fun. This also explain his Cameos in other Marvel movies.- Confirmed. Stan Lee's cameos are all canonically the same Watcher, and as of What If, we know that Watchers are able to traverse realities, timelines, and universes, including all of Stan Lee's cameo roles in Fox and Sony films featuring Marvel Supers.
