Actor and lifelong Superman fan Nicolas Cage has given up on playing the Man of Steel, and is now more interested in the role of Superman's greatest enemy, Lex Luthor. Luthor is portrayed in the DCEU by Jesse Eisenberg. Eisenberg played the character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and in a post-credits scene for Justice League.
In the 1990s, Cage was cast as Clark Kent in the film Superman Reborn, which was later retitled as Superman Lives. Tim Burton was attached to direct with Kevin Smith as the writer. The project was ultimately scrapped before going into production. Though the film was never finished, fans received a taste of what Cage could have looked like as the Man of Steel when screen tests of Cage in the Superman costume emerged in 2009. According to Cage, Superman Lives is "more powerful than any of the other Superman movies" because it was never made and only exists in people's imaginations.
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In an interview with The Guardian, Cage discussed the idea of being the next Superman and admitted that his "Superman days are long gone." When asked about portraying a villain in a future film, Cage expressed interest in playing Lex Luthor: "Oh, that would be GREAT! I’d make a great Lex Luthor!"
Many fans would be thrilled to see Cage in the role of the iconic comic book villain. Even though Eisenberg still says he hopes to return as Luthor, the part could be recast, especially if the reports about Henry Cavill exiting the DCEU are true. All roles associated with Superman could end up being recast. One potential problem with this is Eisenberg's age. Eisenberg is significantly younger than Cage.
There's also the possibility that there may be no plans for any actor to play Luthor in the near future. This could be the case if Warner Bros. is diverting attention from Superman to focus more on their upcoming Supergirl project. It's unclear if Lex Luthor would appear at all in Supergirl.
This isn't the first time Cage has talked about playing a DC Comics villain. Cage has said in the past that the Joker would have been a "perfect" role for him. While Cage may not be portraying a comic book villain any time soon, the actor is providing the voice for Spider-Man Noir in Sony's Into the Spider-Verse. Cage based his version of the character on Hollywood icon Humphrey Bogart.
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Source: The Guardian