See Why Bryan Cranston Would Be The Perfect Stan Lee In A Biopic Movie

On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Bryan Cranston tried on a pair of sunglasses to show how much he looks like the late Stan Lee.

By TeeJay Small | Updated

Bryan Cranston

While promoting his latest series, Showtime’s Your Honor, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Bryan Cranston revealed a list of potential roles he’d like to play in a biopic. The Breaking Bad star listed several possible names between bantering with Fallon, landing on Willie Nelson, Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot, and Marvel comics legend Stan Lee. The clip shows Cranston putting on a pair of sunglasses and posing beside an image of the late Marvel icon, displaying an uncanny likeness.

Bryan Cranston seems to be a huge name in pop culture right now, partially due to the renewed vigor of the Breaking Bad franchise thanks to the prequel series Better Call Saul airing its final season this past Summer. Cranston appeared in a pair of cameo scenes in the final episodes of the Bob Odenkirk-led AMC show, alongside his Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul have also been on a countrywide tour since 2021, promoting their joint venture in a premium artisanal mezcal, prompting media appearances such as last week’s Tonight Show interview.

Thanks to Bryan Cranston’s surging career, many fans, and likely production companies, are inquiring about the dramatic actor to take his pick for biopic roles, in the event that one is up for grabs. During the interview, Cranston and Jimmy Fallon discuss several iconic figures Cranston shares a likeness with, including the likes of Willy Nelson and Stan Lee. After donning a pair of Stan Lee style 70’s glasses, Cranston riffs on some creative ways to play the godfather of Marvel comics on the big screen.

Of course, at the age of 67, Bryan Cranston would be portraying an older Stan Lee, as many younger audiences have come to know him, appearing in cameos across nearly every Marvel movie both in and out of the MCU canon. If such a film does go into production, it’s anyone’s guess who would be playing a younger Stan Lee, portraying the writer’s meteoric rise after creating and co-creating many of the most recognizable comic book characters in modern history. Lee’s final film cameo had him appearing in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame as an aging hippie in the year 1970, shouting, “Hey, man! Make love, not war!” while speeding past a military building, a fitting conclusion to the creator’s peaceful outlook and ever-present sense of humor.

stan lee
Stan Lee in Captain Marvel (2019)

After his death in 2018, Stan Lee has been honored in various Easter eggs throughout the MCU, including the use of license plates which spell out his birthday in both WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home. While no such Stan Lee biopic has been announced yet, Bryan Cranston seems to absolutely have the gravitas and humor to pull it off. Currently, Cranston has been hard at work with his series Your Honor, as well as a number of upcoming films in active production, according to IMDb.

One such film, Asteroid City, will be directed by Wes Anderson and feature Bryan Cranston starring alongside Hollywood royalty such as Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, and Scarlet Johansson. Cranston is also set to star alongside Henry Cavill in the upcoming spy thriller Argylle, as well as a Will Gluck-directed film titled Jackpot. While it’s always exciting news to see more of the Breaking Bad star, we’re really hoping that some film executives were watching Cranston’s recent Tonight Show appearance, and have become inspired to get the ball rolling on a Stan Lee biopic.