In the wake of Cage's comments (and because this kind of thing is so up my alley it can see my back teeth) I'm going to shamelessly mine it for content use this as an opportunity to offer my fancasting for Nic Cage once he hopefully hits the screen in a shiny new Marvel role. To set the ground rules, I'm going to go through a list of roles that I think would suit Cage. I'll be honest with you, I already know exactly the role I want him in, but I'm not confident that it could happen, so I figured I'd pitch a few alternatives just to be safe. Let's go with a nice round arbitrary three backup picks. I'll give you my dream casting at the end.
First off, I think it's fair to say that Cage has a number of different looks. The guy has range, both in terms of his acting chops and in terms of his aesthetic. Recently, I saw an incredible photo of Cage in-costume to play Dracula for for the upcoming horror-comedy Renfield. The look maintains Cage's natural surrealist energy, but elevates the look into something altogether ethereal and otherworldly. The man rocks a red velvet suit. Of course, with Moon Knight hitting the MCU in just a few short days, there is admittedly a temptation to bring Cage's interpretation of Dracula into the fold wholesale to make good on the Internet's favorite Moon Knight feud. 
That said, I'm not sure the creative at Disney are ready to court the level of Chaos that the internet can churn out, and honestly Marvel movies have always come across as a little cringey when they try to shuffle memes into the mix. So, barring this as a possibility, why don't we look at another recent look by Cage, his grizzled and bearded character from "Pig".
I know I'm probably going to lose a point or two of nerd cred when I say this, but I unabashedly love the Wesley Snipes Blade movies. Yes. Movies. That means all of them. One of my favorite aspects of those films was the dynamic between Snipes' Blade and Kris Kristofferson's Whistler. This was my first introduction to the character, and as a "mom-friend", to borrow recent parlance, I am naturally drawn to wise old grizzled veteran mentor types. Yoda, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Uncle Ben, and John Kent are regulars in my lists of favorite characters in fiction, and it all circles back to this trope. That's why, when Mahershala Ali takes over as Blade, I can think of few characters I'd like to see return to the screen as much as Abraham Whistler. He's my first choice for a role for Cage in the MCU.
Next on the list, let's part ways with the supernatural aspect of the Marvel universe and stray closer to the fantastical. I hold a firm belief that in the middle of this renaissance we're experiencing for Nic Cage in Hollywood, that he may not really want to sign on for a dozen-film contract with Marvel. He seems to be in the midst of what could realistically be described as an art-house era in his career, and big-budget action movies don't always mesh with that aesthetic. If that's the case, let's offer a single film contract that puts Cage close to the front, leaves room for a potential cameo or return, and which plays to his natural theatricality. This entry comes with something of a twofer, because I think Cage could give interesting takes on either of the characters here. With Black Knight just around the bend, but still far enough out that casting choices could be on the table, I would love to see Nic Cage as either Sir Percival of Scandia, the original Black Knight, or as Nathan Garrett, the Black Knight canonically before Kit Harrington's Dane Whitman. Again, I am steering Cage in the direction of a grizzled former hero, although I think there could be some interesting play with whether Whitman views his uncle as an asset/mentor, or whether he sees him as an obstacle. They did mention in Eternals that Dane and his uncle had a falling out and weren't on speaking terms, which could be a recipe for clashing conflict, or heartwarming reconciliation. Another benefit of this choice, is that because the Black Knight is so seldom in the mainstream purview, there is an opportunity to take creative license with his look. You could literally have Cage on set with a Con-Air mullet, or rock up with his everyday slicked back hairstyle. The creative license gets even more lenient if you use him as Percival in flashbacks.
For my last pick, I want to really play into Nic Cage's natural magnetic personality. No one, bar none, chews scenery like Nic Cage. It was the foundation of his entire career at one point. He's larger than life, and despite that he still seems remarkably approachable. His seemingly natural animated presence on screen really lends him to characters that are able to work a crowd. I could believably see Cage standing on a cage with an enraptured audience sitting slack-jawed or cheering him on. So what if we take that force-of-nature personality, and instead of using it for good, give him one of the most iconic villain roles in the entirety of Marvel?
If there is one thing that living in America in the last three decades has taught me, it is that the disenfranchised and embittered are very, shockingly, depressingly easy to radicalize. And of course, in Marvel, there are dozens of characters able to speak persuasively, control a crowd, or outright control others using superpowers. But amongst all of the villains ever put to page in Marvel one specific character resonates more than any of them, and he didn't even have powers for the longest time. He relied on a very real-world power shared by his real-world contemporaries. That is the power to weaponize the grievances of the privileged against a marginalized minority based on a world finally waking up to and acknowledging said minority's existence. That man is the Reverend William Stryker.
The wild thing about Stryker is that while he is one of the most-adapted comic book characters in existence right now (nine separate incarnations between movies and videogames) he's never been adapted really well. There have always been glimmers of the original character present in the on-screen portrayals, but none which have really encapsulated the inherent bombastic nature of an evangelist preacher trying to sway his flock. I refuse to believe that Nic Cage couldn't give us the energy this despicable monster deserves, and with the X-Men poised to enter the MCU, I can think of no better time to start casting this role.
Lastly, I want to give you my genuine hope for Nic Cage in the MCU. It combines the mentor aspect of Whistler, the fantastical elements of The Black Knight, and the... I don't know, strong Christian overtones of Stryker? I want to see Nic Cage reprise his role as Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider. That is to say, I don't want Ghost Rider 3, or a full movie where Blaze returns as an MCU mainstay (though I wouldn't say no to a Circle of Four adaptation) but instead I want to see Johnny Blaze return as a mentor for a new Ghost Rider, in the form of Robbie Reyes.
The adaptation of Reyes in Agents of SHIELD was totally fine, verging on pretty damn good, I have to admit. That said, I would really love to see a younger actor take on the role in a way that speaks to the heart of the character, and with the MCU currently trending down in median actor age, I don't think it's out of the question. It would even give us an opportunity for a huge team-up shot if you could feasibly pay Sam Elliot enough to come back for another comic book movie.
The upsides here are too many to count, and I can't think of a realistic downside to this arrangement. Currently in the comics, Johnny Blaze is the sitting King of Hell, so you could even bring Cage back in a somewhat recurring role in sequels. Long live The King.
And if all of that wasn't enough to sway you, I present you with my closing argument. If you bring in Nic Cage as Johnny Blaze, you can bring on John Travolta as Danny Ketch, giving us a Face/Off reunion, and setting up for one hell of a confrontation.
No comments:
Post a Comment