We're probably going to be hearing a "debate" about the merits and demerits of Marvel movies for the rest of eternity—or, at least, as long as the current "Superhero Bubble" continues to dominate the box office—and now a new voice has entered the discussion. Nicolas Cage, who was once set to play Superman in an unrealized Tim Burton film and who later played Ghost Rider in two not-stellar installments, chimed in when speaking with GQ.
Martin Scorsese, whom Cage worked with on 1999's Bringing Out the Dead, has said multiple times that Marvel films "aren't cinema." Francis Ford Coppola—Cage's uncle—said just a few weeks ago (also in GQ) that Marvel films are "one prototype movie that is made over and over and over and over and over again to look different." They're only a handful of the directors who have levied criticism, a group that also includes Denis Villeneueve, Ridley Scott, and Jane Campion, among others.
Cage doesn't see eye to eye with them. “Yeah, why do they do that?” he said. “I don't understand the conflict. I don't agree with them on that perception or opinion.”
GQ writer Gabriella Paiella brought up the idea with Cage that big movies like Marvel movies make it harder to produce smaller movies. Cage disagreed, saying that the success of those superhero movies doesn't have any impact on movies he makes, like Joe or last year's Pig. "I don't think the Marvel movie had anything to do with the end of the tweener. By tweener, I mean the $30 to $50 million budget movie," he said. "I think movies are in good shape. If you look at Power of the Dog, or if you look at Spencer, or any of Megan Ellison's movies. I think that there's still Paul Thomas Anderson."
He continued, praising how the Marvel films have expanded through the years, and how they all so intricately connect with one another.
“Marvel has done a really excellent job of entertaining the whole family. They put a lot of thought into it. I mean, it's definitely had a big progression from when I was doing the first two Ghost Rider movies," he said. "Kevin Feige, or whoever is behind that machine, has found a masterful way of weaving the stories together and interconnecting all the characters. What could be wrong with wholesome entertainment that is appealing to the parents and the children, and gives people something to look forward to? I just, I don't see what the issue is.”
Cage also mentioned that rumors that he would reprise his role as Ghost Rider in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are not quite accurate ("I mean, I would do it," he said. "It would be fun. I'd love to work with [Benedict] Cumberbatch, but I don't think that's happening.")
In another GQ video, though, he made a slight hint that there could be another (ever-so-brief) superhero role in his future. In GQ's Actually Me video, he responded to fans talking about his almost-made Tim Burton Superman movie, when one asked why they can't still make that movie now. "Would it matter how much time I appeared as the character?" he asked. "There might still be a chance."
And with DC's The Flash now set for 2023—believed to be influenced by the timeline-jumping Flashpoint comic arc and already confirmed to be bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman—it could be just the right time for the Nicolas Cage Superman dream to finally come to fruition.
