SUPERMAN LIVES: Nicolas Cage's Would-Be Suit Revealed Up-Close For The First Time Ever

For the first time ever, the iconic suit that Nicolas Cage was supposed to wear in unrealized film Superman Lives has been brought out of the Warner Archives and put on public display for all to see.

By MattIsForReal - Dec 23, 2018 08:12 AM EST

Filed Under: Superman

There's a rich history surrounding DC's Superman and that includes the unproduced 1990s film Superman Lives that had Nicolas Cage set to star as the titular Man of Steel. The movie was to be directed by Tim Burton and written by Kevin Smith (Wesley Strick brought in later on to rewrite the script). And while Superman Lives did enter pre-production, it was canceled by Warner Bros. shortly after.

To this day, the proposed film remains a fascinating area of interest for superhero fans and every now and then we are treated to unearthed images or footage from its pre-production days - teasing us with what could have been. On a recent episode of DC Daily, we were given our best look yet at the costume that Nicolas Cage would've donned as the Man of Steel. It's a beaut.

The costume was unveiled towards the end of the episode and marks the first time the suit has ever left the Warner Archives. You can watch the reveal below (at around the 18:17 mark).

Machinima writer Ray Carsillo also snagged a photo with the suit up close, which you can check out below.

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So it was a big deal today when we brought out from the Warner Archives one of Nicolas Cage’s Superman suits from the never-made “Superman Lives”. Check out the full reveal on the DC YouTube page in today’s episode of #DCDaily. Or just enjoy me having a Jimmy Olsen-like moment here. #DCComics #SupermanLives

A post shared by Ray Carsillo (@raycarsillo) on
Dec 21, 2018 at 3:45pm PST

Although Kevin Smith has in the past expressed interest in having his Superman Lives script turned into an animated film, it's unlikely it'll ever see the light of day. Nicolas Cage has since moved on from the prospect of playing a live-action Superman, though his dream did partially come true when he was cast as the voice of the Man of Steel in this year's Teen Titans GO! To The Movies.

For those of you interested in the fascinating history of Superman Lives, you should check out John Schnepp's 2015 documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? which chronicles much of the pre-production process.

Update: As many of Comic Book Movie’s fine readers have pointed out, it’s possible this suit may actually be from J.J. Abrams’ Superman: Flyby, another canceled project from 2004. If so, someone at Warner Archives might’ve mislabeled it. Either way, it’s still a cool reveal!

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79 Comments

1 2

Origame - 12/23/2018, 8:33 AM

Wait...isnt that the jj abrams suit?

TheLight - 12/23/2018, 2:37 PM

@Origame - It sure looks like it, doesn't it? Personally, whether Henry truly returns or not, I want him to keep the S glyph and have THIS look for the suit.

Origame - 12/23/2018, 3:11 PM

@TheLight - thatd be cool. Personally i like the alien additions so maybe those accents but with this color scheme and belt.

niknik - 12/23/2018, 4:55 PM

@Origame - Yes it is. The article is incorrect. It's from Superman Flyby, NOT Superman Lives.

Origame - 12/23/2018, 5:24 PM

@niknik - yeah. Sad. Superman lives gets a lot of (admittedly justifiable) attention that its upsetting that flyby which has a lot of intrigue about it just gets lumped in with lives.

DBLACK - 12/23/2018, 8:42 AM

The Warner archives... unrelated but wonder what happened to all the Babylon 5 tv stuff.

Interesting.

WruceBayne - 12/23/2018, 8:50 AM

I thought Cage had that weird looking shiny black suit. Did I not see that?

MosquitoFarmer - 12/23/2018, 9:07 AM

I'm not too big on would-be indie cinema much these days, but anyone who's interested in a wild wild ride should check out Mandy.

And it has the best macaroni & cheese commercial ever made.

1 2

SUPERMAN LIVES: Nicolas Cage's Would-Be Suit Revealed Up-Close For The First Time Ever

For the first time ever, the iconic suit that Nicolas Cage was supposed to wear in unrealized film Superman Lives has been brought out of the Warner Archives and put on public display for all to see.

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