Nicholas Cage as Superman?
by E. Christopher Clark | Thursday, September 24, 2009
A test-shot of Nicholas Cage in costume as Superman has leaked thanks to a Japanese Tim Burton fansite. Or, at least that’s what they claim it is.
You may remember that, back in the mid- to late-1990s, both Tim Burton and our old friend Kevin Smith were involved in a proposed relaunch of the Superman movie franchise. And you may also remember that Nic Cage, much to the horror of comic book fans everywhere, was supposedly slated to star. Kevin Smith fans will recall Smith’s diatribe from An Evening With Kevin Smith, wherein he gave his take on the whole debacle. And many people—not me, surprisingly—might even have read Smith’s script for Superman Lives at one point or another. But none of us—not until now, at least—has ever seen visual proof of the horror that was almost unleashed upon the world.
Seriously, this image makes me queasy. It is that terrible. What about you? What do you think?
And, while we’re at it, what would it take to make a good Superman flick? I liked Superman Returns a bit, and I think the first two films of the Christopher Reeve series are pretty good, but there has yet to be a Dark Knight-quality Supes movie. Why is that?
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Comments
E. Christopher Clark says:
I think it very well could be a Photoshop job, but it’s so terrible that I think it might just be real.
Why do you think Warner/DC doesn’t want to do a new Superman film? And is it true that he’s an inherently hard character to write? You’re more of a DC expert than I am, so I’m curious to get your take.
Jason says:
I think Superman is a lot harder than Batman to pull off without it looking childish or campy. This is largely because Batman is much more flawed and emotionally scarred than Superman, and that adds much more depth and intrigue to the character. Superman, for lack of a better word, is just too good. Of course, a filmmaker could add more depth and flaws, but then he wouldn’t really be doing Superman anymore.
Admittedly, there may be more to the character than I give him credit for (I’m not a huge fan), but your average movie-goer would likely have a hard time swallowing a less-than-perfect-in-all-aspects Superman, and I think the studios know that.
Bryan White says:
You know? It’s entirely possible that in a cocaine induced freakout, Cage made that suit himself out of whatever he had laying around the house.
E. Christopher Clark says:
@Jason - I think you make good points about Supes being too good to be interesting. That said, as a writer, I wouldn’t mind giving a Superman story a shot some day.
@Bryan - I’d never thought of that, but I think you might be right.
Bryan White says:
It also just occurred to me that the original scripts for those Jon Peters produced Superman movies had Supes in a black suit. The red and blue was out from day one because Peters thought it was “too faggy”.
Darrell Carlisle says:
I’d rather see Marylyn Manson play Superman than that dude. There’s a part for Cage, The Marilyn Manson Story! He already looks like him to me.
E. Christopher Clark says:
Good point, Bryan. I remember that. I also remember that Peters wanted Supes to fight a giant spider. Right? At least I think that was part of Kevin Smith’s story about the whole development process.
Darrell, I think you’re absolutely right that Cage (at least in this picture) could play Manson. But if anyone financed a movie on Manson’s life, I would probably lose all faith in humanity.
Darrell Carlisle says:
I agree. There is only so much ugly one can stand!
Jeremy Couturier says:
The last Superman movie did quite well at the box office, and Brandon (?) Routh was a good Superman so I’m surprised they let his contract expire. I thought Singer captured some of that god-like alien vibe that Superman seems to exude. Routh was a bit creepy as Supes in a good way.
Yeah Superman is a straight arrow but that’s more of a reflection of what he thinks he should be, as an adopted son of Earth. He is what he is because of our yellow sun. As much as I like the brooding hero it’s just very much played out. It has been for a while. Having said all that, Nic Cage would have been the strangest Superman ever. He name his own son Kal-El(!!) that is hard core…
Darrell Carlisle says:
I thought that was a very good Superman too. maybe they can get him back!
E. Christopher Clark says:
@Jeremy - I think they were definitely headed in the right direction with the Singer Superman flick. I just don’t think they reached their destination. I feel like they would have if they’d been given a shot at a sequel, though.
@Darrell - Routh definitely was onto something in that role. I would’ve liked to have seen more of him doing it.
Frank Drappier says:
Thank god they didn’t release that movie onto the world! The picture could very well be real when compared to some pre-production sketches.
Lesson one: keep the iconography intact. Brandon Routh in an updated christopher reeve suit would have looked better. The hair should have been slightly darker. Brandon Routh was excellent, both as Clark and as Superman. Kate B. was terrible. The whole “Loîs lane is a mommy”-thing was a capital mistake that doesn’t go anywhere.
Lesson two: flying is magic. The obvious CGI double in superman returns bothers me - although excellent at a distance, the close-up shots were terrible. Green screen would have been the better choise there.
Lesson three: tell a story. I will never understand why they cut out the return to krypton sequence and left in the smallville flashback. I think you need to see how superman reacted to the massive amounts of kryptonite in whatever is left of Krypton to make a link with what happens on new Krypton. It would tighten up the story
Inspite of these flaws i kinda like SR. I feel that WB and John Peters made a few mistakes that made the story rattle (read the original script) but Singer was respectful to everything that was right about the first movies. John Ottman’s score is also quite good.
Answer to why WB put everything on hold: The Siegel/Shuster families have won a case in court. They now have to be payed x% of any money that is being made on Superman.
Darrell Carlisle says:
I’m glad you mentioned the CGI because it is overdone. And if I can tell the difference It ruins it for me. They might as well switch from live action to animation. They are getting closer but they aren’t there yet. The Benjamin Buttons movie is the best I have seen so far. It was very realistic.
DUI Attorney Los Angeles says:
We see a surgical table, its contents obscured by the shadows, save for the back of a malformed head. Computer banks and monitors are everywhere. A small ROBOT works beside the table implanting a cable into the back of the malformed head. It throws a switch. Raw energy blows through the cable, causing the patient to convulse and writhe, screaming.
E. Christopher Clark says:
Uhm… wow. Whoever wrote the program that wrote that piece of SPAM deserves… A) A smack upside the head B) A punch in the balls or C) A Pulitzer Prize.
I can’t decide.
nap says:
Warner / DC has said they have no plans for a new Superman movie. But yeah, that photo does look awful. Sure it’s not a photoshop job? Looks a little off. Literally.