James Gunn, who has made tributes to the memory of Stan Lee, provided an honest answer to the fan who asked to see a photo of the initially planned cameo, which involved Stan Lee being one of The Collector’s trophies that the Guardians encounter in the first film. Lee was originally supposed to be seen giving the middle finger to Groot as well, but the director scrapped the scene, thinking it added too much to an already packed sequence.
Article source: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2566030/what-really-happened-with-original-stan-lee-cameo-in-gotg-vol-1-james-gunn