HBO Max Restored A Lost Stan Lee DC Cameo

On the whole, streaming services aren't necessarily known for actually enhancing the films and shows on their servers. Whether it's Disney+ presenting beloved sitcoms in the incorrect aspect ratio, or the general trend of cramming an increasingly nauseating amount of ads into movies, streamers often seem determined to absolutely ruin our collective viewing experience. But sometimes they do something right. Take the time HBO Max restored a Stan Lee cameo to an episode of "Superman: The Animated Series" which had previously been removed after Warner Bros. got nervous about using his and others' likenesses.

The name HBO Max isn't exactly synonymous with getting things right. Aside from the fact the streaming service has been rebranded twice now (during which time its name was changed to MAX and then changed back to HBO Max), it's also struggled to shed the image of being one giant streaming vortex into which media is flung only to mysteriously disappear. Back in 2022, several shows and movies were quietly removed from HBO Max, and while they've since re-appeared elsewhere, it was an eye-opening moment for audiences who have remained somewhat wary ever since.

But there's no denying HBO Max got something right when it restored Stan Lee, or rather Funky Flashman — Jack Kirby's satirical take on the Marvel legend — to a 1998 episode of "Superman: The Animated Series." Despite the fact that the show was animated, it seems Lee's appearance, alongside several other characters both real and fictional, was too much for Warners, and the company nixed them all following the episode's initial broadcast. Now, that same episode has been restored, proving the age of streaming isn't all doom and gloom.

Everyone loves a good Stan Lee cameo, which raises the question of why such a thing might have gotten Warner Bros. execs so upset. During its second season, "Superman: The Animated Series" had a problem and Darkseid was the solution. More specifically comic legend Jack Kirby's Fourth World was the solution, with Darkseid and his underlings representing a much more formidable (and more visually interesting) set of villains than any of the Man of Steel's typical foes. Against this super-powered adversary, Supes would truly be tested, and even though he eventually overcame the ruler of Apokolips, it would come at a price.

In the 1998 two-parter "Apokolips... Now!" Superman and Orion manage to repel Darkseid after his attempt to conquer Earth, but only with police officer Dan Turpin's help. Turpin originated in the pages of Kirby's 1971 comic "New Gods" #5, and "Superman: The Animated Series" creator Bruce Timm was a huge Kirby fan. As such, he brought Turpin into his Kids' WB series, albeit with an updated design that mimicked Kirby's own appearance. 

In the end, within the world of Timm's show Turpin acted as a sort of analog for Kirby, who had passed away back in 1994. Sadly, the character doesn't make it out of "Apokolips... Now!" alive, with Darkseid casually dispatching him before fleeing Earth in a brutal scene that Bruce Timm has claimed is his favorite in all of "Superman: The Animated Series." The episode ends with Turpin's funeral and the famous line, "In the end, the world didn't really need a Superman. Just a brave one" and it's here where things get interesting for the very nerdiest of fans, as Stan Lee originally showed up among the mourners for Turpin, only to be hastily removed.

Jack Kirby left Marvel in 1970 after having become dissatisfied with his contract and growing resentful of Marvel maestro Stan Lee, who, as he put it during a 1990 interview with The Comics Journal, was "a man who never wrote a line in his life — he could hardly spell — taking credit for the writing." When Kirby moved to rival DC, he created the character of Funky Flashman who debuted in 1972's "Mister Miracle" #6 and was loosely based on Lee. A shady grifter, Funky Flashman was a biting send-up of Kirby's former colleague and it's this character that appeared at the funeral for Dan Turpin in "Superman: The Animated Series."

When Bruce Timm drafted storyboards for the funeral, he packed several cameos in, not necessarily thinking the animators would follow his character designs. These included, among others, "Kingdom Come" artist Alex Ross, Mister Miracle, and Stan Lee, or rather Funky Flashman. When the animators did, in fact, follow Timm's storyboards, Warner Bros.' legal department stepped in. Lee and the other guests' likenesses were then removed from subsequent airings and the DVD release. It wasn't until the show hit HBO Max that the original version of the episode became widely available again.

Exactly 20 years later, Lee actually did make his first official DC cameo when he voiced himself in 2018's "Teen Titans GO! To the Movies."But while he didn't lend his voice to "Superman: The Animated Series," his likeness is there. Or rather it was, then it wasn't. Now, thanks to an unlikely savior, Lee is back among the mourners in "Apokolips... Now!" and you can stream it to your heart's content (until HBO Max evaporates the episode like Darkseid did Turpin).