The year was 1997. Batman (1989) director Tim Burton was getting ready to further explore the DC Universe by directing a new Superman movie. The man Burton wanted to play Superman/Clark Kent was none other than Nic Cage. Superman Lives was never able to get off the ground. A new documentary, The Death Of Superman Lives. What Happened?, tells the story about why the world did not get a Nic Cage Superman. The documentary features interviews with the people involved in the movie and includes test footage of Nic Cage testing out a new style of Superman suit.
“You were saying it feels looser the more I wear it? This is great, look at that.”
Nic Cage as Superman would have been a dream for the actor. Cage is such a huge fan that he named his son Kal-El, Superman’s Kryptonian name. In 2013, Cage spoke about Tim Burton and the failed Superman Lives movie on the Empire Podcast.
“He’s a great artist, and I’m sure he would have done something really magnificent with the story of Superman and I knew I was going to go towards something quite unique and different than anything you’ve seen with Superman. But having said that, in a way, it was a win-win for me that it didn’t work out, because the power of the imagination [allows you to] imagine what that might have been like. That might be even more powerful than the finished product, so I think it worked out.”
He is right. Burton was going to do something very unique and different with a Nic Cage Superman. In test footage and pictures of Burton’s Superman costume, we can see a very different look than we are used to seeing on Superman.
The reaction on Twitter to a Nic Cage Superman movie is interesting.
Internet, you’re not ready for the film of Nic Cage in that ’90s Superman suit. Save them for the apocalypse.
— Little Lost Pixie (@LittleLostPixie) July 5, 2015
Ya so Nic Cage was supposed to play Superman in the 90s. How American pic.twitter.com/bPTQ4pWIcK
— BK (@brendan_kraus) July 4, 2015
The biggest disappointment in there never being Nic Cage Superman movie is that we never saw Nic Cage as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent.
— david (@shawgab) July 4, 2015
The Death Of Superman Lives. What Happened? is scheduled to be released on July 9, 2015. What do you think a Nic Cage Superman movie would have been like?
[Image via Newslocker.com]
