The iconic comic book writer and movie producer, Stan Lee, famed for "Iron Man," "Spider-Man," "Daredevil," among others, claimed that the 2015 "Fantastic Four" Josh Trank-directed movie did not do well in the box office because he was not in it.

"Well, it was probably because I didn't have a cameo in it, and they didn't discuss the story with me," Lee told Larry King for Ora, as quoted by USA Today.

It should have been a surprise for fans, who saw the movie in August without the "cameo king's" appearance, as he usually did in his creations, like being a school librarian in "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Furthermore, Lee appeared on the earlier "Fantastic Four" movies. In "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer" (2007), he portrayed a rejected wedding guest who went by the name Stan Lee. It was a funny moment because he was not able to pass the tight security and ended not attending the wedding ceremony between Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Invisible Woman/Susan Storm (Jessica Alba).

In the 2005 movie "Fantastic Four," his character was a mailman named Willie Lumpkin. Thus, his cameo here was not only just something invented for the sake of him to be inserted in a scene. It was an iconic role of a good-natured mail delivery guy, who became part of the Fantastic Four character's lives by being the person who gives them their usual fan mails at their New York headquarters, as noted by Comic Vine.

Although the famous writer did not appear on the 2015 film, what may be more surprising was when he admitted that the story for the movie was not even discussed with him. This may also have contributed to its failure to get great ticket sales.

What else could have gone wrong? Basing on the trailer released by 20th Century Fox via YouTube, the film starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Toby Kebbell, among others, shows much promis with its great animation effects. However, it had bad reviews.

The Guardian noted that the film was "delivered so slowly" and that although the members of the "cast are some of the most promising actors of their generation" their "chemistry" is "swept away by wave after wave of expository dialogue and ludicrous exclamation." Pete Hammond of Deadline commented that Trank had "blurred vision" for the film and that the cast failed to make an "impression."

Yet, there's still another 2017 sequel for this year's movie, per Cinemablend, so Lee should be there at least to give it a shot.

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