In an interview with ShockTillYouDrop, Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick explained that when they first began work on the idea, before Swayze's diagnosis, they had hoped to cast in him for a surprise bit in the film:

It was [going to be] a Patrick Swayze zombie. They got attacked by him zombified and we had these wonderful moments where they found a potter's wheel and there's Columbus on the wheel and these other hands come up behind him and it's Patrick Swayze the zombie. Ultimately, they fight and Patrick bull rushes Tallahassee who grabs him and lifts him into the air, a la Jennifer Grey, and smashes him into a pillar.

After Swayze bowed out, the pair decided to stick with the celebrity cameo idea, and nabbed a different star for a non-Swayze-themed scene.

Patrick Swayze Was To Cameo In Zombieland [ShockTillYouDrop]

Collider received a tip from the set of Iron Man 2 leaking Stan's big on-screen cameo, which sounds a lot better than last year's dialog-free Hugh Hefner reference (although we liked seeing Stan surrounded by the ladies). According to their tipster, Stan has already filmed his spot and

"he was dressed as Larry King. The scene has Stan asking Tony Stark when he's going to be on his show."

Should be interesting to see how Stan works the curmudgeon-face-and-suspenders look. Here's a round up of some of the more recent Stan Lee cameos:

Tony Stark, ladies and gentleman. Robert Downey Jr. makes one of the many Marvel cameos that are slowly linking the movie versions of the Marvel Universe together. So who else is going to be cameoing in this movie, I wonder. And if this trend keeps on going, who will appear in the future Marvel picture The Avengers? [Moviebox]

We were wondering if you watch Heroes, and what you thought about it.

I love it. LOVE it! I haven't watched all of them because I don't have a lot of time with all the writing I'm doing, but I love it. I even did a cameo in the first season.

That's right, you were a bus driver who picks up Hiro. Would you come back if they asked you?

Of course! I'd be angry if they didn't. I just love doing those.

Well that brings up a good point. Watching the Marvel movies now has become a game of "spot Stan Lee." Will we see you in Iron Man?

Oh yeah, I've already done that role, and it's a very funny cameo. I'll give you just a hint of what it is: I'm dressed like Hugh Hefner, and I've got my arms around three beautiful blonde women who are as close to me as you can get without being on the other side. Plus, I'm smoking a pipe like Hugh Hefner. So when you see it, remember that you heard it here first!

If the Thor film keeps going forward and they want me in it, then they'll probably have me swing a hammer. I'd don fur and leather or do anything they wanted me to do in order to get back on the screen.

In Heroes, the people get their powers through genetics, it isn't supernatural in origin or from cosmic rays or anything. In all of the characters you've created, do you have a favorite origin story?

Well, I think they're all great. I mean... probably Spider-Man being bitten by the radioactive spider. It's so simple, and he was the first teenaged superhero, in my recollection. Plus he faced all the problems that a teenager would encounter; girls, schoolwork, friends. He was the most realistic to me and will probably always be my favorite.

Where did your catch phrase "Excelsior!" come from?

I used to have a lot of expressions that I would end my comic book columns with: Hang Loose, Face Front, 'Nuff Said, and I found that the competition was always imitating them and using them. So, I said I'm going to get one expression that they're not going to know what it means, and they won't know how to spell it. And that's where excelsior came from, and they never did take up on it, thank goodness.

Well, that's good because now it's your unofficial slogan. Thank you for your time.

It was my pleasure. Excelsior!