There are plenty of actors out there who would jump at the chance of being in a big-budget superhero movie for Marvel Studios, but Nicolas Cage doesn’t seem to be one of them. Speaking to Variety during the Miami Film Festival, where he was awarded the publication’s Legends & Groundbreakers Award, the 59-year-old star of The Rock and Face/Off talked a bit about Marvel movies, explaining that he’s aware of how popular they are but that he doesn’t need to be in any for one specific and evidently vital reason: “I’m Nic Cage.” That said, Cage mentioned that he needed to be nice about Marvel, since he named himself after one of the company’s characters. Cage previously starred as the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider, one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes who can be identified by his flaming skull.
From a Variety report:
“I’ve gotta be nice about Marvel movies, because I named myself after a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage. What am I going to do, put Marvel movies down? Stan Lee is my surrealistic father. He named me,” he said when asked about the state of superhero movies today. “I understand what the frustration is. I get it. But I think there’s plenty of room for everybody. I’m seeing movies like ‘Tár.’ I’m seeing all kinds of artistic and independently driven movies. I think there’s plenty of room for everybody.”
So, would he want to be in the MCU? His response is easy: “I don’t need to be in the MCU, I’m Nic Cage.”
In the ’90s, he was set to enter the comic book world even more, taking on the titular role in Tim Burton’s “Superman Lives.” However, that never came to light. To this day, he says, he’s not 100% sure why.
“They wanted Renny Harlin to do the movie. I sat down with Renny. I was doing another picture, he came to the trailer and we talked. I liked Renny… but I thought if I’m going to do this, it’s such a bullseye to hit,” Cage explained. “I said, this has to be Tim Burton. I called Tim and said, ‘Would you do this?’ Tim didn’t cast me, I cast Tim, and Tim said yes. I loved what he did with Michael [Keaton] and Batman, and I was a big fan.”