Nicolas Cage has a rather unconventional take on Marvel movies, suggesting that the franchise has become increasingly focused on action and combat.
During a conversation at Fan Expo Dallas, Cage likened the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to professional wrestling.
“I do say this with love,” Cage said. “When I see these 50-plus and otherwise intelligent and remarkably gifted thespians putting on these ridiculous outfits and getting ready for the fight, let’s face it, it’s all cutting to the fight, it’s hard for me not to be reminded that the MCU is becoming a well-funded and glorified WWE.”
Cage was quick to clarify that his criticism was directed specifically at the franchise’s more recent films, noting that he believes the MCU was once in a much stronger position creatively.
“It started out, in my view, terrific,” he said. “Some of the early stories were marvelous, the way that they wove all the threads together and told the different character stories and backstories.”
Cage didn’t single out any particular films, instead focusing on what he sees as a broader change in the franchise’s creative direction.
His own recent work connected to Marvel offered a contrasting example. Cage starred as Ben Reilly, a struggling private investigator in 1930s New York, in Sony’s Spider-Noir, which aired an eight-episode season on Prime Video before being canceled.
“One of the things I liked about Spider-Noir, was it wasn’t cutting to the fight,” he said. “It was a detective story. There was a mystery there. I would like to see [the MCU] get back to telling the stories and not just cutting to the wrestling match.”
Although Cage has yet to appear in an MCU film, he has previously portrayed several Marvel characters. The acclaimed actor played Ghost Rider in 2007 and reprised the role in its 2012 sequel. He also voiced an alternate-universe version of Spider-Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Cage’s criticism echoes similar sentiments expressed by Martin Scorsese, who famously said Marvel movies were “not cinema” in 2019, and Denis Villeneuve, who has criticized the films for being too “cut and paste” in their approach.
