Nicolas Cage On Returning To Comic Book Movie Roles: “It’s Not Really On My Mind”

In the past six months, Nicolas Cage has expressed confusion over his cameo as Superman in The Flash, discussed his desire to do TV and held forth on potentially retiring from movies. This week, in an interview with Deadline at SXSW, Cage expressed indifference at the thought of returning to the comic book genre.

“Would I return to the comic book genre?” Cage asked himself, before continuing with a lukewarm, “I guess never say never.”

That’s hardly a ringing endorsement. Cage maintains there’s much more to him that a comic book geek.

“Much has been made about that. My comic book collection just goes viral quickly, exponentially, and I feel like in some ways it’s eclipsed what I’m really reading,” Cage told Deadline, “like [Nikolai Golgol’s] “The Overcoat” or Herman Hesse. It’s like I’m still stuck at 12 years old with the NyQuil and the lemon cookies and The Incredible Hulk No. 72.

“Come on, I’ve grown up. That’s not who I am anymore. Which isn’t to say I don’t appreciate it. I do. And I’ll probably still be open to playing something, but it’s not really on my mind.”

Cage’s film choices in recent years — Pig, The Old Way, Dream Scenario and Arcadian, which Cage was in Austin to promote — have reflected that mindset.

The actor told Deadline in January that he plans on being more selective about his projects going forward.

“I’m going to be more severe and stringent with the movies that I make. Maybe I’ll do one a year or every other year, I don’t know,” he said.

But he’s not ruling out a return to comic book/superhero movies entirely. In fact, one of the films he would be excited about making is a sequel to one of his best-loved outings in the genre.

“I’m saying if something came along that I thought had some pop to it, some spark to it, that maybe could be fun for folks to revisit, like a Face/Off 2 or Ghost Rider, that’s another conversation. But I mean, that’s not going out and finding a brand new bit of material and trying something else.”