Nicolas Cage took aim at Marvel’s blockbuster machine Tuesday, telling a Fan Expo Dallas crowd that the MCU “is becoming a well-funded and glorified WWE.”
Cage, who played Ghost Rider in two films, said he watches gifted actors in a cast of 50-plus pull on costumes he called ridiculous before the story cuts straight to the fight. He framed the jab as affectionate. “I do say this with love,” he told the audience.
The timing puts the remark in front of Marvel’s biggest promotional push in years. “Avengers: Doomsday” opens Dec. 18 and reunites nearly all of the studio’s heroes under directors Anthony and Joe Russo. A re-release of “Avengers: Endgame” grossed $86 million worldwide over the weekend, pushing Marvel Studios past $35 billion in lifetime global revenue.
Cage has never appeared in the MCU. His comic book résumé includes the two “Ghost Rider” films, Big Daddy in “Kick-Ass” and, this spring, Ben Reilly in “Spider-Noir.” Sony produced that series for Prime Video and MGM+, outside Marvel Studios’ shared universe. Cage, who took his stage name from the Marvel hero Luke Cage, once landed the lead in Tim Burton’s abandoned “Superman Lives” and later cameoed as Superman on “The Flash.”
That history has drawn pushback. Some fans call the criticism hypocritical, noting that “Spider-Noir” also leaned on stylized costumes and action. Cage said after the show’s cancellation that “one season is perfect.”
Critics of the franchise share his frustration. They argue that Marvel films routinely pile characters and effects into a final act, and that spectacle can bury character-driven moments. Defenders answer that the formula follows comic book tradition, where stories build toward a climactic battle, and that many Marvel movies and series have avoided it.
The wrestling comparison has spread across fan sites since Cage spoke. Neither Marvel Studios nor Disney had responded publicly as of Wednesday.
