It goes without saying that after so many years of international devotion to him, but you have to love Nicolas Cage. The actor has given us as many joys on the screen as off it, where he has ended up becoming a rescue meme for everything we don’t deserve, and with his acceptance of the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award he has once again captivated us.
Nic and the superheroes
During his speech, good old Nic briefly reviewed some of the projects he has worked on and, as a good fan of superheroes, he couldn’t help but focus momentarily on this type of production. Thus he spoke about his relationship with Marvel and the harsh criticism that is usually poured towards his films by some members of the industry.
“I have to be good at Marvel movies, because I chose my name based on a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage. What am I going to do, talk bad about Marvel movies? Stan Lee is my surreal father. He told me he put the name. I understand the reason for the frustration. I get it. But I think there’s plenty of room for everyone. I’m watching movies like ‘Tár’. I’m watching all kinds of art and independent movies. I think there’s plenty of room for everyone “.
It should be remembered that Cage participated in the hilarious -especially the sequel- ‘Ghost Rider’ that was released in 2007 and 2011, although he has never been involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Does this bother the interpreter? According to his comment about it, not at all: “I don’t need to be in the MCU, I’m Nic Cage”.
As it could not be less, he also plunged into the swampy waters of ‘Superman Lives’, the failed DC film that was going to be led by a Tim Burton who landed on the project thanks to Cage, and not the other way around.
“They wanted Renny Harlin to do the movie. I met with Renny. I was doing another movie, and he came to my trailer and we talked. I liked Renny…but I thought if I was going to do that, I had to hit downtown. I said, Tim Burton has to do it. I called Tim and I said, ‘Would you do this?’ Tim didn’t book me, I book Tim, and Tim said yes. I loved what he did with Michael Keaton and Batman , and I was a big fan. I think it was going to be a very different Superman, something emo, but we never got there.”
What was the factor that ended up sending the project to hell? Nic Cage has it clear: ‘Mars Attacks’.
“I love ‘Mars Attacks.’ I think ‘Mars Attacks’ was a fantastic, innovative movie. It’s a groundbreaking! But the studio was scared by ‘Mars Attacks.’ Warner Bros. had lost a lot of money on the movie. Those movies that they’re so weird, that they’re challenging and innovative, they piss off a lot of people. I think they backed down. They spent a lot of money building the sets and creating the costumes, but you never know. I don’t want to want to be the cryptic Cage, but I never know! knows!”.
Via | Variety