The Flash: Superman's Cameo Surprised Nicolas Cage - But He Loved One Thing
Nicolas Cage is clearing up some misconceptions concerning his brief turn as Superman in "The Flash."
In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, the Oscar-winning actor said some of what you saw of him in director Andy Muschietti's DC multiverse adventure was shot on the film's set and wasn't pulled from leaked costume test footage from his ill-fated 1998 film project, "Superman Lives."
Directed by Tim Burton, Cage's "Superman Lives" movie was canceled while the production was in its early stages. However, since Muschietti was able to access previous DC properties from Warner Bros. because of the multiverse storyline in "The Flash," the director brought in Cage's Superman, Michael Keaton as the titular character from Burton's Batman films, and used the likeness of other superheroes, like Christopher Reeve's Superman.
But while Cage spent three hours filming his Superman cameo, he admitted to Yahoo! how surprised he was by what was included with the footage he shot. "When I went to the picture, it was me fighting a giant spider. I did not do that. That was not what I did," Cage told Yahoo! According to the publication, the scene was reportedly an in-joke about one of producer Jon Peters' offbeat ideas for "Superman Lives."
Like Burton, Cage is against the use of AI in films
After "The Flash" was released in theaters, Tim Burton blasted Warner Bros. for bringing back his Batman and Superman and railed on the idea of using AI in film.
And while Nicolas Cage told Yahoo! that he doesn't believe his character was created via AI for the scene in "The Flash" where his Superman battles the giant spider, he shared Burton's sentiments about the inappropriate use of the rapidly developing technology in movies.
"I know Tim is upset about AI, as I am. It was CGI ... so that they could de-age me, and I'm fighting a spider. I didn't do any of that, so I don't know what happened there. ... But I get where Tim's coming from. I know what he means," Cage told Yahoo! "I would be very unhappy if people were taking my art ... and appropriating them. I get it. I mean, I'm with him in that regard. AI is a nightmare to me. It's inhumane. You can't get more inhumane than artificial intelligence."
Cage was happy in that Atwood's Superman's costume design was highlighted
Despite the controversy over Nicolas Cage's Superman in "The Flash," the actor said he liked some aspects of the character's appearance and praised Andy Muschietti's work as a director.
"They did put a lot of time into building the suit ... and I think [Andy] is a terrific director, he is a great guy and a great director, and I loved his two 'It' movies," Cage told Yahoo! in the interview.
Cage also described what his work on "The Flash" entailed, which, given the length of his cameo, wasn't a lot. "What I was supposed to do was literally just be standing in an alternate dimension, if you will, and witnessing the destruction of the universe," he said. "Kal-El was bearing witness [to] the end of a universe, and you can imagine with that short amount of time that I had, what that would mean in terms of what I can convey. I had no dialogue [so, I had to] convey with my eyes the emotion. So, that's what I did. I was on set for maybe three hours."
Perhaps what pleased him most, though, is how the designer of his "Superman Lives" costume — Tim Burton's longtime collaborator Colleen Atwood — finally got proper recognition for her work. "I do feel that the movie gave that beautiful suit that Colleen Atwood designed a chance to be seen, and I was happy about that because she put a heck of a lot of thought into that series," Cage said.