Nicolas Cage Says His Superman Appearance in THE FLASH Wasn't What He Actually Shot

One of the most fun parts of DC’s The Flash movie is when Nicolas Cage’s version of Superman from Tim Burton’s unproduced film Superman Lives showed up and fought a giant spider. It was one of those things that I just wasn’t expecting, but when he showed up, the audience went wild in the theater. It’s one of those things that a lot of fans never thought we’d see.

Cage actually did go in to shoot his scenes in the film, but it turns out that the stuff that he shot wasn’t what we ended up seeing in the movie. Cage shared this bit of information while talking Yahoo! Entertainment he was asked about AI technology being used for films and explained:

“When I went to the picture, it was me fighting a giant spider. I did not do that. That was not what I did. I don’t think it was [created by] AI. I know Tim is upset about AI, as I am. It was CGI, OK, 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. 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.”

He went on to say that he didn’t think AI was used in The Flash, though, but also said that what they did was out of his control:

“But I don’t think it [was] AI [in The Flash]. I just think that they did something with it, and again, it’s out of my control. I literally went to shoot a scene for maybe an hour in the suit, looking at the destruction of a universe and trying to convey the feelings of loss and sadness and terror in my eyes. That’s all I did.”

The actor then offered praise to director Andy Muschietti and explained what it was that he initially shot for the film:

“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. 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. 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 had to] convey with my eyes the emotion. So that’s what I did. I was on set for maybe three hours.”

Cage recently previously opened up about how he felt while watching his Superman scene play out in the movie, saying:

"Well, I was glad I didn't blink. For me, it was the feeling of being actualized. Even that look for that particular character, finally seeing it on screen, was satisfying. But as I said, it's quick.”

He also shared where you can see what his Clark Kent / Superman performance would have been like in Superman Lives. All you have to do is watch his 1998 film City of Angels. He said:

“If you really wanted to know what I was going do with that character, look at my performance in City of Angels.

"I was supposed [to play] Clark Kent after [City of Angels], and I was already developing this alien otherness playing this angel. That is a perfect example of the tonality you would've gotten for Kal-El and for Clark Kent. Clark would've been a little more amusing but Kal-El [had] the sensitivity and the goodness and the vulnerability and all those feelings that were kind of angelic and also terrifying."

Now that some time has passed since you watched The Flash, what are your thoughts on seeing Cage in action as Superman?