Newly Unearthed Footage Reminds Us Just How Genius a Nicolas Cage 'Superman' Could Have Been

Years later, audiences the world over still actively mourn the loss of what could have been the penultimate 'Superman' film.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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When he's not busy being photoshopped into Game of Thrones stills, globally revered icon of culture Nicolas Cage passes the time by inarguably improving practically every film in which he's a participant. Honestly, would anyone else have enough sense of self-aware tenacity to boldly take a stand against God himself in Left Behind? What about the sheer genius present throughout underrated megaclassic Honeymoon in Vegas?

For a short moment in the 90sthe decade of possibilityCage seemed poised to finally give Superman the cinematic respect he so surely deserved. With Batman alum Tim Burton set to helm the project, Superman Lives seemed far too good to be true. In fact, that quickly became the case once the project was swiftly abandoned — though not without a treasure trove of evidence proving its brief existence.

The forthcoming documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? aims to explore the troubled inner workings behind the doomed project, with newly released footage of Cage testing one of the Superman suits simultaneously exciting and depressing the viewer:

LA Times has the scoop on the full clip, with the full documentary hitting Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD on July 9.

 

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