At this stage in the game, with all the straight-to-VOD dreck to pay the bills, Nicolas Cage‘s career is a bit of a joke to most audiences. But if so, that’s a shame, because Cage is the Oscar-winning actor gave us thrilling, gonzo performances in classics like “Adaptation,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Raising Arizona,” “Wild At Heart,” and “Red Rock West,” just to name a few. The 54-year-old actor does have juice left in him too, especially when teamed up with an auteur like David Gordon Green’s “Joe,” or this year’s upcoming Sundance hit “Mandy,” [our rave review] but lately, Cage has been rather, er, adventurous in his methodical approach to B-movie acting, which has done a great disservice to his reputation and, instead, turned him into a YouTube sensation.
Perhaps in another universe, the nutty, straight-to-DVD roles Cage has tackled these last few years might’ve eventually lead him to the most over-the-top, cinematic role imaginable: the Joker. That’s right, the “Face/Off” actor has expressed interest in tackling Batman’s arch nemesis, in a recent interview with JoBlo, even mentioning that it’d be the “perfect” match for his acting sensibilities.
“I mean, I think my comic book days are kind of…I’m on to other things, but I always thought I’d make a great Joker,” he said. “It would be the perfect one for me to go even more off the rails than I’ve ever done before and, y’know, it’d be fun.”
That’s probably true, early on his career or even as late as something as the nutty “Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans,” Cage might have thundered with the unbridled mania of the Joker. He’s been nominated twice for a Best Oscar and won once for “Leaving Las Vegas.” But let’s face it, Cage’s career, for this kind of role, is long over, and no studio would take the risk.
As for the DCEU’s Joker, Warner Bros. is currently looking at Joaquin Phoenix as the potential madman, but he’s seemingly unwilling to discuss the role publicly. There are many of us that still believe in Cage and think it’d be a real joy to behold his take on the “Clown Prince of Crime,” but let’s be why so serious and not fool ourselves.