Speaking at a Q&A panel at Fan Expo Dallas over the weekend, Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage was asked about the long run of superhero movies. He started with praise, saying Marvel's early films were terrific, especially the way they wove characters and backstories together into a larger story.
Then he said that more recently, when he sees large casts of acclaimed actors in elaborate costumes preparing for a showdown, he can't help but think the MCU is becoming a "well-funded and glorified WWE." He was quick to soften it, prefacing it with "I do say this with love," and his target was the franchise's direction, not the performers. He called the actors "remarkably gifted," and his complaint was that the movies keep cutting straight to the fight.
Nicolas said he'd like to see Marvel return to storytelling rather than, in his words, "just cutting to the wrestling match." He contrasted that with his own recent Marvel project, Prime Video's Spider-Noir. The series, which premiered in May, casts him as a 1930s detective version of Peter Parker investigating crimes in New York City. Cage described it as a mystery-driven detective story, a different kind of comic book adaptation from the usual superhero fare. It is separate from the MCU proper and unconnected to Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man.
The remarks are drawing attention partly because of Cage's own comic book résumé. He played Johnny Blaze in 2007's Ghost Rider and returned for 2012's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. He also voiced Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and was famously attached to Tim Burton's never-made Superman Lives in the 1990s. Reports note that Ghost Rider is now being rebooted within the MCU, with Ryan Gosling reportedly cast in the role.
Reaction online has been split. Some fans cheered what they see as a fair read on the modern superhero formula, while others pointed out that Nicolas has spent plenty of time in heightened comic book spectacle himself.
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