Ryan Reynolds Confirms They Tried To Get Nicolas Cage Back as Ghost Rider For DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
While Deadpool &Wolverine was still in development before the filmmakers actually started shooting the film, there were rumors that Nicolas Cage was going to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider.
As you know, Ghost Rider didn’t end up appearing in the movie, but some concept art surfaced that shows that at one point, the creative team did want the character involved.
Now, during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ryan Reynolds confirmed that they did attempt to get Nicolas Cage to reprise his role as the Spirit of Vengeance again.
Reynolds said: "They were in early drafts. We had versions of that [sequence], but then as it shook out, you're sort of looking... We're trying to make the movie responsibly, as well. It's a big budget.
“It's the biggest budget of any of the Deadpool movies, but you want to give yourself as much constraint, which really I think facilitates asymmetrical thinking and creativity.
“If you have too much time or too much money, it usually murders that kind of creativity. So, yeah, you're shrinking things.
"But we did talk to Nic Cage. We tried to get him, but he was a no-go.... I would've loved him."
So, had Cage said yes, then it sounds like Ghost Roder would’ve actually been in the movie and that would’ve been wild! Fans would have flipped out over that! It’s a shame that they couldn’t work things out to make that happen.
Regardless, the movie was packed full of awesome cameos that the fans loved including Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Wesley Snipes (Blade), and Channing Tatum, who played Gambit.
Director Shaw Levy added: "Luckily, we got a lot of yeses. Mostly because Ryan would just call them directly. He'd often do an ambush FaceTime and put them on the spot."
Cage previously said that he is open to returning to the role, saying: “I’m not saying no entirely. 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.”
It remains to be seen if Cage will ever return as Ghost Rider, but there are rumors that he might show up in Avengers: Secret Wars along with characters from Fox's X-Men and Fantastic Four movies.