Original Ghost Rider Actor Opens Up About Him Possibly Joining the MCU

Nicolas Cage is a well known name among movie fans.

Born into the famous Coppola family, he has received many awards over the years, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Although his films have not always been critically acclaimed, Nic remains one of the most recognizable actors due to his charisma and bizarre acting style, which has made even the worst of his projects a cult classic.

He began his career in 1981 and finally broke through in 1987 with the romantic comedy Moonstruck. Soon after, however, Cage experienced a career slump that lasted until 1995, when he scored another critical success with the drama Leaving Las Vegas.

He consolidated his success with several other roles, but most of Cage's films that proved to be financially successful and made him known to a wider audience were in the action/adventure genre.

Unfortunately, Nic would later find himself on the sidelines again for nearly a decade, only recently beginning his career resurgence.

He produced and starred in the 2021 drama Pig, which received critical acclaim for his performance, and later portrayed a fictionalized version of himself in the 2022 action comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which received a similar response from critics and audiences.

Now, while accepting his Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the Miami Film Festival, Nicolas reflected on the many projects he's worked on, name-dropping the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the process.

"I've gotta be nice about Marvel movies, because I named myself after a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage. What am I going to do, put Marvel movies down? Stan Lee is my surrealistic father. He named me," the actor said.

Later, when asked if he would like to be in the MCU, Cage simply replied: "I don't need to be in the MCU, I'm Nic Cage."

Curiously, the actor had already portrayed a Marvel character, Ghost Rider, in the 2007 film of the same name and its 2011 sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, though the films are not part of a larger cinematic universe.