What Would ‘Superman’ Have Been Like With Nicolas Cage As The Star?

What would Superman have been like with Nicolas Cage as the star? The question has been sweeping the web lately as we are reminded of the almost-Superman movie from nearly 20 years ago. This topic has arisen mostly because of the recent release of a documentary entitled The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? created by filmmaker Jon Schnepp.

We all remember the first Batman, which was directed by Tim Burton and released in 1989. Less than 10 years later, in 1997 to be exact, Burton decided he might like to explore the DC universe further with a Superman film entitled Superman Lives. The star was to be none other than Nicolas Cage, and it was set to be released in 1998.

However, it never saw the light of day. It was supposed to be a surprising, hip movie that dove into the life of the superhero universe’s most bland character. It was meant to explore his flaw, anxieties, and other deep secrets of the hero, putting on a classic, dark Tim Burton show.

We don’t really know what happened, but we certainly want to know what Superman would have been like with Nicolas Cage as the star, especially in light of some of his more recent, strange roles.

The web has recently exploded with images of Nic Cage in his Superman costume. One tweet expressed support for the film.

“The #NicCage #Superman pic that DIDN”T go round the world, but SHOULD have. Get the doc now.”

The tweet was accompanied by none other than this photo:

Perhaps the reason Superman Lives didn’t work out is that the world simply wasn’t ready to see Nicolas like this.

To be honest, the idea of Nicolas Cage playing Superman today seems pretty comical. Some of his roles within the last ten years have been less than stellar, including his roles in Knowing, Ghost Rider, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Today, it seems like Cage gets more attention from comedic memes and images of his face superimposed on cats than from his movie roles.

However, the era of Superman Lives was a very different time, one in which Nicolas was an A-lister. The idea behind the movie was intriguing to say the least, and Cage’s 1990’s charm could have been exactly what it needed to be a success.

It’s true that his muscles in this film were probably more padding than real muscle, but it’s likely that the talent would have been there. It’s too bad that Superman Lives was never released because Nicolas Cage could have made a very surprising and possibly thriving Superman.

[Image via GodHatesGeeks.com]