Cage recently spoke about superhero movies, including “Superman Lives,” at the Miami Film Festival upon receiving the Variety Legend and Groundbreaker Award. The actor confessed his love for Burton’s ode to ’50s alien invasion B-movies “Mars Attacks,” a box office bomb that became a cult classic, and theorized that Warner Bros. didn’t feel like taking another risk with Burton:
“I thought ‘Mars Attacks’ was just a fantastic, groundbreaking movie. He’s [Burton] a groundbreaker! But they were scared at the studio because of ‘Mars Attacks.’ Warner Bros. had lost a lot of money on the movie. These movies that are really weird, that challenge and break ground, they piss a lot of people off. I think they got cold feet. They’d spent a lot of money already building the sets and the costume and what have you. But you never know. I don’t mean to be cryptic Cage, but you never know!”
According to all the information about “Superman Lives” and Cage himself, the film was indeed going to be quite weird. Cage described the hero as having “samurai black long hair” and labeled the character as an “emo Superman,” referring to the planned idea about a psychologically isolated Superman who wrestles with his alien identity. That characterization admittedly fits neatly into Burton’s signature style, although the studio probably thought the lonely goth route probably works better for Batman than the shining beacon of hope that’s supposed to be Superman. Cage’s reminiscing is one more chapter in this legendary yarn, proving that the legacy of “Superman Lives” will never die.