Nicolas Cage has played vampires, convicts, treasure hunters and some of cinema’s most unforgettable eccentrics, but his latest role may be one of his most unusual collisions yet. In Spider-Noir, Cage transforms the fan-favorite character he first voiced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse into a live-action, hard-boiled detective inspired by classic black-and-white film noir. The actor spoke with Parade about channeling Humphrey Bogart, blending old Hollywood with superhero storytelling, reflecting on milestone anniversaries for The Rock and The Wicker Man, and why The Family Man continues to resonate with audiences years later. Spider-Noir, which can be viewed in color or black and white, debuts domestically on MGM+ on May 25 before premiering globally on Prime Video on May 27.
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What was your reaction when you were first approached about bringing Spider-Noir into live action after voicing the character in Into the Spider-Verse?Well, I thought it was both exciting and daunting. It was an opportunity to bring a style of film performance to many people through the cathode ray, if you will, and collide two different things. Collide film noir, film performance with Spider-Man, and all that was generated with the '60s up to now, with the web slinging and the acrobatics, and put those two unlikely forces together to me was something super unique and potentially compelling.
The noir aesthetic is such a huge part of the show, obviously. Did stepping onto those sets and into that world immediately help you find the character?Very much so. And to wear those clothes and to be in a '30s set stylized with the lighting, it just helped me believe that I could be in one of those old movies. And I did design my performance specifically to fit in the black and white format. I wanted to transport you to another time and another style of film performance.
It's pretty cool to have the color version and the black and white version. I've watched both, and it's amazing how you see the same thing, but it has a very different feel to it.Yeah. I agree with you. And as I said, I did design my performance to fit in black and white more than anything else, but it was important to me that we also have a color option because I know there are many teenagers out there who have no experience with black and white, and I wanted them to maybe get their feet wet. They could watch the color and enjoy that, and then take a look and skip over and check it out in black and white, which might compel them to check out the wealth of great American cinema from the '30s and '40s and be excited about that and learn about classic film.
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You've played so many unforgettable characters over the years. What was it about Spider-Noir that felt creatively exciting to you at this stage of your career?It was most exciting because it was a chance to do something super different than anything I'd done before. To take a noir style of film performance, be it Bogart, Cagney, Edgar G. Robinson, or even Peter Laurie and try to inform that style with a very, very famous superhero character in the form of Spider-Man. I thought this was a collision of sorts. I'm always looking for that which is enigmatic. We used to call it the egg and the crutch. Two things that don't go together and you just smash them together and it creates this spark. And that's what I wanted to do with this. So this was an opportunity to do something new with performance.
What do you think you personally bring to the role that makes Spider-Noir such a natural fit for you?I think what I was primarily interested in was the style of acting and that's what I brought. I brought the culmination of what I thought those noir film stars were doing. For me, a flavor, a hint, a taste, a kiss of that, and collided it with a very famous superhero, which is the Spider-Man character, and the acrobatics and the swinging around and the webbing and all that. If I would say, "What did I contribute to this?" it would be that I was contributing that flavor and that style through great viewing and reviewing old movies to hopefully bring you into this universe. This fantasy universe that there could be a Bogart, if you will, style of Spider-Man.It was a flavor that I wanted to embody. It's still 100% me, but it's like I often say when Amy Winehouse did "Back in Black", she was channeling those old jazz crooners. I wanted to channel those old actors from those black and white movies from the 30s and 40s. And so Bogart, that flavor. But I also threw in some Bugs Bunny. There's some like Looney Tunes going on every now and then, not too much, but enough to make you go, "Where are we?" I want to see AI do that. It's like, let's bring these two, all these elements together. That's only a human invention.
Ben Reilly/Spiderman (Nicolas Cage) in SPIDER-NOIR Photo: Aaron Epstein/PrimeAaron Epstein/Prime
This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Rock. When you think about making the movie, what's the first memory that comes to mind?That I was working with Sean (Connery). I mean, I grew up watching his movies. My dad, [for] my first movie, I think, he took me to the drive-in movie theater to see Dr. No. I'm not sure it was age-appropriate, but it was fun. And I saw that and Planet of the Apes in a drive-in movie theater. And there I was working with Sean Connery, who I admired. And I did develop a good friendship with him, and we stayed in touch over the years, and I would visit him in the Bahamas. He was very avuncular. I have very good memories of him being like an uncle to me in a really great way, and he was helpful. He was kind.
It's also the 20th anniversary of The Wicker Man, which has really developed a cult following. What's your relationship with that movie now, looking back on it?I think the movie is electromagnetic. I think it communicated on some level. I don't know if it was necessarily a good level, but I do think that it sparked a lot of interest. I did have a way of playing that role that perhaps the comedy of it would have made more sense. But Avi Lerner was producing, he wouldn't let me do it, which is that I wanted to be burned in the bear suit with the bear suit on. They made me get out of it.
I also wanted to play it with a ridiculous handlebar mustache, and they wouldn't let me do that. But I think those two elements would have added to the horror and also to the absurdity that all these absurd comedic things were happening, intentionally, I might add, like the Leelee Sobieski stuff and all that, but that people would have thought it was more intentional than unintentional if they would have let me get burned in the bear suit. I think it would have come more into focus if that had happened.
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Have you kept any memorable props or wardrobe pieces from your films that fans might be surprised you still have?No. I literally am like a lizard that sheds its skin. When I'm done with a character, I dump that stuff so fast. I get the libretto out of my head. I gave my snakeskin jacket to Laura Dern from Wild at Heart. I don't have the hand from Moonstruck. I don't have anything. I just want to move on.
Is there a role from your past that you still think about and wonder if you'd like to revisit that character someday?The two that come to mind simply because I would like to know and they're alive, many of the characters that I think were my best characters are deceased, but I think the Cameron Poe [from Con Air] character. An older Cameron Poe, I'd like to know what his life is like now, what's going on with him. I also like this character. I like Ben Riley. We got where I needed to go ultimately in terms of the fantasy in my head and what I saw when I viewed all eight episodes, but I think there's more room to develop this character and put him in other circumstances. Those two come to mind.
I have to ask you about my favorite movie of yours, The Family Man. It has become one of those movies that people revisit every holiday season. Why do you think that story resonates with audiences so strongly?Because we all can get lost in the hors d'oeuvres of life, and I'm guilty of that. But what really matters is your family and the love that you feel with your children or your wife, and the movie talks about that, and that it's a nice message, and it has a lot of heart. And I think it's the kind of thing that, specifically around holidays, any holiday, that people realize, "Hey, it's not so bad. I don't need that. I have this, and this is even better than that, and I'm blessed." I think that's the communication with The Family Man.
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The Family Man asks a fascinating question about the road not taken in life. Did making that movie change the way you think about success or happiness at all?Without going into too much personal detail, it made me think about what might have happened had that not happened with that girl. Would I have been happier? What if she hadn't done that? What would that have looked like? But then I wouldn't have had this. But it does make you reflect. I think one of the charms of that movie specifically is it makes the audience reflect on their own lives and the different roads and changes they've been through or been on.
You mentioned how earlier, when your dad took you to go see Dr. No, you were seeing Sean Connery on the big screen. Then you get an opportunity to work with him. But now you're one of those guys. You're one of those guys who, when younger actors see you, and they get to work with you, they're like, "Holy cow, I'm on a TV show with Nic Cage." What is it like to have that reversal where these younger actors look up to you?Well, see, I'm a little bit different than maybe even Sean because I welcome, not that he didn't welcome working with me, he enjoyed working with me, but I am interested in their opinions to the point where I feel like I'm the student and I'm going to learn something. So anytime I'm working with a group from another generation, a younger generation, whether it's the director or the other actors, I'm hoping that they're going to reinvent me or help me reinvent myself.
That they're going to give me something in that relationship and that exchange, as colleagues, they're going to give me some fuel to keep going and find new ways of expression. So I'm the student. That's how I view myself. I'm never the maestro. I'm the student. But Sean, I would call him Maestro when we would go walking, "Hey, Maestro, good morning, Maestro. How are you? " He liked that, but I will always be the student, no matter how old I get.
Related: Nicolas Cage's 'Spider-Noir' Premieres May 27 With Dual-Format Viewing - Check Out the Official Trailer!
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