Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe embracing the concept of the multiverse, performers from all corners of Marvel’s history have been able to join the MCU proper, but don’t count on Nicolas Cage reprising his role of Ghost Rider anytime soon, joking this his own persona is bigger than any in the MCU. The actor expressed that he could never really knock Marvel movies, given not only his on-screen appreciation for them but how his love of them goes back years, even influencing his stage name, but as much as fans would like to see him join the franchise, it doesn’t seem like it will become a reality.
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“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,” Cage shared about superhero movies at the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at Miami Film Festival, per Variety. “I understand what the frustration is. I get it. But I think there’s plenty of room for everybody. I’m seeing movies like Tรกr. I’m seeing all kinds of artistic and independently driven movies. I think there’s plenty of room for everybody.”
As far as Cage himself officially entering the MCU, he joked, “I don’t need to be in the MCU, I’m Nic Cage.”
The success of X-Men in 2000 kicked off a major surge of superhero movies, and while something like Spider-Man was a success, projects like Daredevil, Elektra, and Fantastic Four weren’t quite as big of hits. Cage’s foray into the world of Marvel came toward the end of this wave with 2007’s Ghost Rider and 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Complicating matters for the casual Marvel fan was that 2008’s Iron Man kicked off the intertwining franchise, with each film catapulting the series’ success even further, yet that franchise spent more than a decade running parallel to Marvel films from Fox and Sony, preventing Cage from crossing over into the MCU.
Playing Johnny Blaze wasn’t Cage’s only involvement in the world of superheroes, as he nearly played Superman for Tim Burton in the ’90s.
“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 recalled of the experience. “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.”
He continued, “I love Mars Attacks. I thought Mars Attacksย was just a fantastic, groundbreaking movie. He’s a groundbreaker! But they were scared at the studio because of Mars Attacks. Warner Brothers had lost a lot of money on the movie. These movies that are really weird, that challenge and break ground, they piss a lot of people off. I think they got cold feet. They’d spent a lot of money already building the sets and the costume and what have you. But you never know. I don’t mean to be cryptic Cage, but you never know!”
Cage did, however, voice Spider-Man Noir for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Would you like to see Cage join the live-action MCU? Let us know in the comments!
