Fantastic Four: Nic Cage Was Initially Supposed to Play Dr. Doom

At one point or another, Nic Cage was nearly slated to play Fantastic Four villain Dr. Doom. In fact, according to one filmmaker with knowledge of the production, Cage had been cast in the role before being replaced by Julian McMahon. Ryan Unicomb, the Australian filmmaker behind the upcoming Justice League: Mortal documentary, managed to get his hands on some makeup work and concept art of what Cage's character could look like. According to the filmmaker, Cage's appearance as the character skirted the line of almost being too dark as it begged for an R-rating at the time.

"Back before Julian McMahon took over the role, Nicholas Cage had been cast as DOCTOR DOOM for 2005's FANTASTIC 4," Unicomb wrote in his Instagram. "The production team decided to approach Cage after a concept artist used the likeness of singer Marilyn Manson for some of their pieces. At the time, the project was considerably darker & Doom's look was definitely walking a line between PG13 & R (as seen in these production maquette's of his skinless, bio-metal arms). This obviously never panned out but it's interesting nonetheless."

See the images for yourself below.

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Back before Julian McMahon took over the role, Nicholas Cage had been cast as DOCTOR DOOM for 2005’s FANTASTIC 4. The production team decided to approach Cage after a concept artist used the likeness of singer Marilyn Manson for some of their pieces. At the time, the project was considerably darker & Doom’s look was definitely walking a line between PG13 & R (as seen in these production maquette’s of his skinless, bio-metal arms). This obviously never panned out but it’s interesting nonetheless. #NicholasCage #Fantastic4 #FantasticFour

A post shared by Ryan (@itsryanunicomb) on Oct 4, 2020 at 1:10pm PDT

News Cage's supposed R-rated Doom take comes a few years after the actor said he thinks Marvel Studios would do better with darker properties, especially when it comes to Ghost Rider.

"Had Ghost Rider been made in R-rated format, the way they had the guts to do with Deadpool, and they did it again today, I'm fairly certain it would be enormously successful," Cage told Yahoo in 2018.

"I still think the movies were a hit. People don't look at the subsidiary outlets, like DVD and streaming and whatnot," he added. "When you look at what [Spirit of Vengeance directors] Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor did for $50 million, and they got a $250 million return, you begin to see the genius of the sequel."

Fantastic Four (2005) is now streaming on Disney+.

Who would you like to see play Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting up our writer @AdamBarnhardt on Twitter to chat all things MCU!