Nicolas Cage, whose recent credits include the Sony Marvel series Spider-Noir, has criticised the Marvel Cinematic Universe, calling it an overfunded and embarrassing spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do say this with love,\u201d said Cage at a fan convention in Texas. \u201cWhen I see these 50-plus and otherwise intelligent and remarkably gifted thespians putting on these ridiculous outfits and getting ready for the fight \u2013 let\u2019s face it, it\u2019s all cutting to the fight \u2013 it\u2019s hard for me not to be reminded that the MCU is becoming a well-funded and glorified WWE.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cage\u2019s association with Marvel<\/a>, the company run by comic book artist Stan Lee for many decades, includes not only Spider-Noir, which was cancelled after a single season, but also two movies in which he played the superhero Ghost Rider.<\/p>\n Cage in The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? Photograph: –<\/p>\n Cage, 62, told Variety<\/a> his attraction to Spider-Noir was primarily aesthetic. \u201cI wanted to try to create an essence of some of my favourite old world actors,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause I wanted to embody that style \u2013 Bogart, Cagney, Edward G Robinson \u2013 and designed my performance to fit within the black-and-white format.\u201d<\/p>\n Other film stars and directors to express scepticism about Marvel movies<\/a> include Martin Scorsese, who likened them to \u201ctheme parks\u201d, and Francis Ford Coppola, who described the company as \u201cdespicable\u201d.<\/p>\n