Stan Lee is Coming to 'Agents of SHIELD'

Stan Lee's cameos may be dwindling, but he's not done showing up yet. It's no secret that Stan Lee, the creator of many Marvel comics, has had a cameo in every one of Marvel's films sans two: Wolverine and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Instead of hanging up his acting hat, he plans to step up his cameo game, Next week, Stan Lee will be on Agents of SHIELD . Some of his cameos have been loud and obnoxious, sending the fictional world of the movie to a careening halt. His "I'm Stan Lee!" outburst in Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a perfect example.

However obtrusive they are into the film, Stan's comedic cameos do offer a sort of nod to the comics, and sometimes, they break up an otherwise dark film. His appearance as a mailman in Fantastic 4, his Hugh Hefner impression in Iron Man 2, and his Larry King bit in Iron Man 3 are all great examples.

Other appearances by Stan Lee have been subtle jump-cuts in the middle of an action sequence, seconds so fleeting that they need to be re-watched again and again for the shock value, as in most of the X-Men films. These are great "easter eggs" for the comics-obsessed, but they don't actually do much for the films, although they don't detract from them.

My favorite Stan Lee cameos, though, are the heartfelt ones. My heart grew a few sizes when Stan gave Spiderman hope in Spiderman 3 . His heartfelt sentiments, delivered to one of his most flawed characters, made me want to re-read an entire era of comics. If you look closely, it seems like Tobey Maguire breaks character for just a second, because he looks way too excited to be talking to a complete stranger.

Now that Stan is taking his cameo game to the small screen, I wonder what type of performance he will give. Hopefully, as a "special guest star," he won't cop to his earlier performances and will instead be the inspiring dreamer we all know and love.

I wish you the best of luck, Stan, but let's try to keep this one serious, okay?