Nicolas Cage: “I don’t need to be in the MCU, I’m Nic Cage”

It’s no secret that Nicolas Cage is a massive comic-book fan, but when it comes to appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s not too bothered. Nicolas Cage recently accepted the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the Miami Film Festival Sunday night and he was asked if he’d ever want to be in the MCU.

Nicolas Cage merely said, “I don’t need to be in the MCU, I’m Nic Cage.” When asked for his opinion on the current state of superhero movies, Cage said, “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. 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.“

Nicolas Cage has appeared in Marvel movies before, but not in the MCU. He played Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Years earlier, he was also set to take on the role of Superman in Tim Burton’s Superman Lives before the project fell apart. “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 said. “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.”

The actor was really excited about what they had cooked up with Superman Lives. “It was more of a 1980s Superman with like, the samurai black long hair,” Cage said. “I thought it was gonna be a really different, sort of emo Superman, but we never got there.” Cage wondered if the studio got scared off because of Burton’s Mars Attacks. “Warner Brothers had lost a lot of money on the movie,” Cage said. “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!“

If Nicolas Cage does join the MCU one day, what role could you see him playing?