One of my favourite parts of Kevin Smith’s 1995 movie Mall Rats – and I have a lot of favourite parts – is comic book legend Stan Lee’s cameo mid-movie, where he counsels Jason Lee’s character, Brodie, on ‘the one who got away’:

Brodie: You’ve probably had a slew of women since her, am I right?

Stan Lee: Oh, lots of women. Jagger and me, we had a running contest to see who had the most. In fact, last time I checked I was way ahead.

Brodie: DAMN that’s hot!

Lee, creator of such memorable superheroes as the X-Men, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, has had cameos – both live and animated – in many of the movies (and shows) featuring his characters. Most recently, you can catch him oh-so-briefly in Iron Man, where Tony Stark passes a silk-robed Lee on the red carpet and says ‘Hey Hef,’ leaving the audience to wonder if Lee’s playing a fellow cameo fan, Hugh Hefner, or if Stark is mistaken. Regardless, the resemblance is hilarious. You can bet he’ll make another one in Iron Man 2, as 87-year-old Lee appears to enjoy the limelight almost as much as Stark himself.

Now, thanks to a green light from AETN-owned History in the US, fans of Lee and superhuman feats will get an extended Lee cameo weekly for an as-yet-undisclosed number of episodes this fall. The show, called Superhumans, will feature real-life X-Men every week – people who have extraordinary talents thanks to genetic gifts. It is reported that Lee will host the show with a Guinness World Record-holding Daniel Browning Smith, who calls himself ‘The Rubber Boy.’

Given Lee’s long-standing legend status – so long, in fact, he probably enjoys equal recognition among 80-year-olds and eight-year-olds – the demo should be a good fit for the channel, especially since the spate of Marvel movies lately should attract the attention of the 18-to-34 male demo.

So far, its broadcast in Canada is unconfirmed, but one can only hope it’ll get picked up here, as Lee is one of the most entertaining figures in pop culture. And you can bet that if you give someone with as vivid an imagination as Lee the ability to populate (or at least comment on) a show with people who fascinate him, the show should be quite fascinating indeed.