Summary

• Cage's varied comic book movie roles showcase his versatile talent, from Ghost Rider to Big Daddy.
• In Ghost Rider, Cage's intense portrayal was hindered by poor execution of the film overall.
• Cage's role as Spider-Man Noir in a live-action series is seen as a culmination of his comic book movie experience.

Spider-Man in a new live-action project. As such, looking at his prior comic book movies roles can hopefully gain insight into what is ahead.

A member of the esteemed Coppola family, the 60-year-old actor changed his name to differentiate himself from his family. With a name like Cage, the actor's trajectory seemed toward action movies. While that has certainly been a part of his extensive resume, it can be argued that Cage has one of Hollywood's most diverse bodies of work, featuring in Marvel's release calendar, the DCEU timeline, and much more. As such, it's exciting to see the culmination of his superhero films in the big-budget Noir Spider-Man series, as no one is better than Cage to carry such an interesting premise.

9 Johnny Blaze

Ghost Rider - 2007

A huge range of comic book characters were considered for films during the first major wave of Marvel adaptations that began with Spider-Man and X-Men. As the formula to best portray these characters was being figured out, many of these films suffered from low quality and a poor understanding of what it was about them that worked. Following in the footsteps of features like Hulk and Elektra, Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage as the possessed bike rider Johnny Blaze, was released to poor reviews - though it was successful enough to garner a sequel.

As a performer who can tap into intense personalities, the idea of Nicolas Cage as the demon-possessed superhero with a flaming skull for a head made sense on paper. But the film's strange tone and poor dialogue did little to satisfy audiences, with much criticism given to the uncomfortable balance between violent darkness and corny humor. While Cage did not give a bad performance, this film was simply from a time when all the wrong pieces were slapped together, creating a disappointing film.

8 Dr. Tenma

Astro Boy - 2009

Nicolas Cage lent his voice to the computer-animated adaptation of the first manga series that would popularize anime in the West. Considering the character's initial impact, this 2009 film was not an enormous hit, although Cage brought some prestige and quality to the animated feature. Cage voiced Astro Boy's creator, who rebuilt his son following an accidental death. Here, Cage plays a character defined by devotion, pathos, and conflict, all in ways that speak to the actor's strengths.

This complex characterization of a man so driven to science through the pain of his loss allows Cage to display some of his strengths as an actor in this film. When his character's emotions push him so far that he disowns the robot that has replaced his son, the oscillating emotions of the performer come through in his voice. As perhaps the most complex character in Astro Boy, Cage finds a way to shine despite the limited size of his role.

7 Big Daddy

Kick-Ass - 2010

In a role that few could have predicted beforehand, Nicolas Cage strapped himself into a costume and portrayed the brutal role of Big Daddy in one of 2010's best comic book films, Kick-Ass. Drawing from the Mark Millar comics, Kick-Ass was a violent and irreverent film that balanced humor and violence. It drew a fine line between the colorfulness of a comic book and the dark moral grays of reality. As a result, Cage was a perfect addition to the film's cast as a loving father and vicious trainer to his daughter, Hit Girl.

A strange and complex role, Cage had to balance control, madness, and delicate affection as he provided training for his daughter and for the titular character. While something is unsettling about a father shooting his child to get her used to taking a hit with a bulletproof vest or a grown man helping children to take to the streets and enact violence, Cage's portrayal made each of these features seem natural. Serving as an inspiration after he died in the film, Cage's goofy, strange appearance in a Batman-like outfit provides much of the film's heart.

6 Johnny Blaze

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance - 2011

Despite poor reception, the first Ghost Rider grossed $228.7 million on a $110 million budget, sufficient to earn a sequel. Cage returned a few years too late to this role, and not enough was done to reinvent the already disliked franchise, so much of this movie felt more like a studio decision than a creative one. The film was also received poorly and made about half the money its previous installment had. However, the budget was also halved, which meant it was still a modest success.

In the year when Thor and X-Men: First Class were released, Nicolas Cage's starring in a Ghost Rider sequel felt like an odd choice for the actor. In 2011, he starred in another movie about fast vehicles and the devil, Drive Angry, as well as one of his most derided films in Season of the Witch. In a year of tumultuous movies for the actor, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance failed to fully showcase the actor's talents as effectively as many other superhero films did.

5 Superman

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies - 2018

Nicolas Cage's first appearance as Superman was in Teen Titans Go! To The Movies. While another appearance as the character was released later that better spoke to the actor's past, this was the first onscreen appearance of Nicolas Cage as Superman after his own solo movie was canceled, and thus the moment is still an important one. Cage shines especially bright with a silly design in this short, charming appearance alongside other celebrities cast as major heroes, including Jimmy Kimmel as Batman and Halsey as Wonder Woman.

Using a deadpan tone, Cage's Superman lectures the Teen Titans in a funny moment about what it means to be a superhero. Cage's dialogue - about how if the characters keep playing as fools, they will never be seen as heroes - may be intended as a tongue-in-cheek reference to his eclectic career, while inadvertently foreshadowing that the actor would take on more superhero roles in the future, thus proving him a source of wisdom about the genre. In this quick clip, with only one scene featuring the hero, Cage provided fan service while reflecting on the future that was to come for the actor.

4 Spider-Man Noir

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse - 2018

In a role that led to a spinoff series setup, Nicolas Cage appeared alongside a series of other Spider-Men, creating a beloved and captivating ensemble. Reaching into the character's roots that have been well-known for so many years, Cage especially stood out in the film as Spider-Man Noir, a 1930s detective iteration of the hero with a notable black-and-white style. Within the ensemble, Cage works with his off-the-wall takes and dialogue, which is especially effective within this outsized context.

Following Cage's first appearance as an animated superhero early the same year, this role tapped into a darker, more brutal iteration of Spider-Man that helped add range to the series' cast. Noir's tone, along with the individual tones of each character in the film, meshed together surprisingly well, somehow finding a consistent feel despite such thematic disparity. It is not a coincidence that Cage's skilled versatility played a part in this realization, and he is certainly a significant factor in why many people call the first Spider-Verse the best superhero movie ever made.

3 Wylie

Jiu-Jitsu - 2020

Nicolas Cage is a martial arts enthusiast, which inspired him to appear in the little-known adaptation of Jiu-Jitsu. Based on a 2017 comic book, audiences may be unfamiliar with the film as it was a box office bomb, grossing only $99,924 against its modest budget of $25 million. Nicolas Cage's character is a seasoned Jiu-Jitsu fighter and plays a minor role in the film, a science fiction feature that includes martial arts fighting and attacking aliens.

The film failed to make much of an impact, and Cage's role is small. However movies like these are a testament to the varied portfolio of work that the actor has taken on over the years. More than any other actor, Cage may appear in movies of wildly varying reception in close proximity to one another. Less than a year after Jiu-Jitsu was released to negative reviews, Cage gave one of the most celebrated performances of his career in Pig.

2 Superman

The Flash - 2023

One of the strangest cameos in recent memory, Andy Muschietti's The Flash features a sequence of shifting multiverses where several iterations of various heroes are on display. Following a quick appearance of Christopher Reeve's Superman next to Helen Slater's Supergirl, the effects turn to a heavily computer-generated Nicolas Cage fighting a giant spider. While some audiences may not have noted the significance, this was one of the most exciting Easter eggs in film for those in the know.

In the 1990s, following the success of Batman, attempts to capitalize on that popularity with a new, dark Superman reboot began to come together. The film was titled Superman Lives and would feature Nicolas Cage as the celebrated hero. The production went so far as to the stage of costume fittings, and photographs of Nicolas Cage as Superman are available online, although the film fell apart. It was exciting to see this finally realized in The Flash, even if the larger movie proved somewhat more divisive.

1 Spider-Man Noir

Noir - Forthcoming

Following the success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a live-action series based on the character Spider-Man Noir was announced in 2023. However, it wasn't until May 2024 that Nicolas Cage was confirmed to be returning as the character, adapting the movie character into a new format. This is exciting for several reasons, not least because the Spider-Verse series of films are among some of the best features being made today, and connecting further to that universe is only a testament to quality.

The impending role speaks to an interesting role for Nicolas Cage as a black-and-white iteration of Spider-Man is fully realized. There has not been a live-action Spider-Man television series, and seeing an older, alternate iteration of that character in a 1930s setting will be an exciting way to see how far Marvel can go off the beaten path. Based on this, after years spent playing comic book roles, this could be the culmination of this experience and Nicolas Cage's best role yet. Although it is unclear if this is the same Spider-Man Noir from his Spider-Verse appearances, any realization of the character will be worthy of excitement.