Nic Cage: ‘Superman Lives’ Starring Nicolas Cage Almost Happened, Must See Footage [Video]
From the archive: published Jul 5, 2015, 11 years ago. Details may have changed since.
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?