The effervescent oddity of a man Nicolas Cage has spoken of his desire to play one of the most obscure Batman villains, going so far as to even pitch ideas for how to do so.
Speaking at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Cage has declared his interest in playing DC Comics’ C-list villain Egghead, who he couldn’t help but pronounce so emphatically across the 30-second clip posted on Twitter.
“I like, uh, I’ve been thinking about this. Since we have this new you know, Robert Pattinson as Batman, which I haven’t seen yet…. the villain that Vincent Price played in the ’60s show, Egghead, yeah I think I’d wanna have a go at Egghead.
“I think I can make him absolutely terrifying, and I have a concept for Egghead. So let them know over at Warner Bros. that I am down for Egghead.”
The clear Cage-ian enthusiasm he has for Egghead and glint in his eye as he discusses it suggests that the idea might not be misplaced. Seeing one of the most erratic character actors take on such a silly villain seems like both a complete mismatch for the tone of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, yet a terrific idea that could completely work.
Cage famously nearly played Superman in the scrapped Tim Burton 1990s film Superman Lives, which has become the subject of an entire documentary called The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?
The character Egghead was made for the 1960s Batman series, before being molded into the comics canon. Egghead has appeared in a Batman movie before, with a LEGO version of the goofy villain appearing in The LEGO Batman Movie with an uncredited voice actor.