Back in the mid-1990’s, Warner Bros. was looking to relaunch the Superman franchise in a new direction. The brought in Kevin Smith to write (his script was later re-written) and Tim Burton to direct what was then called Superman Lives. Burton had just come off two smash hits in Batman and Batman Returns. Most people seemed to think this was a no-brainer. Burton was a hot commodity, and he breathed new life into the Dark Knight.
In an attempt to change how we perceive Superman, Burton brought in Nicolas Cage to play the Man of Steel. This casting left almost everyone scratching their heads. But people remained optimistic due to Burton’s unorthodox, but successful, casting of Michael Keaton to play Batman. As production neared, the budget kept ballooning out of control and Warner Bros. ultimately scrapped the project, and Superman went into developmental hell for the next decade.
After all these years, we have really only seen snippets of what Burton had planned. But now, courtesy of timburton.jp, we may have our first ever glimpse of what Nicolas Cage may have looked like as Superman. Check the video below.
I’ve also added in some concept images from the long dead production. Needless to say, I think we dodged a major bullet here. It would have taken some serious work to convince fans that the above image was appropriate for Superman in any way.
I always heard about that Nick Cage scenario, and thought it would be horrible. That image right there is the epitome of wrong. Both him, and that suit, and the combo. AWFUL!
Concept art looks ok, but cage, no.
As Lex Luthor would say from Superman Returns, this is so WRONG!!!!!
That’s even more “not-Superman” than Tom Welling!