Nicolas Cage Calls the MCU a 'Glorified WWE' for 50-Plus Actors

Nicolas Cage has compared the Marvel Cinematic Universe to professional wrestling, telling an audience at Fan Expo Dallas that the franchise "is becoming a well-funded and glorified WWE." The Oscar winner's remarks, reported by The Playlist, are circulating widely on social media, drawing both agreement and pushback — some critics noting Cage's own extensive superhero credits.

Cage did not soften the critique with caveats about spectacle or craft. "I do say this with love," he said at the convention. "When I see these 50-plus and otherwise intelligent and remarkably gifted thespians putting on these ridiculous outfits and getting ready for the fight — let's face it, it's all cutting to the fight — it's hard for me not to be reminded that the MCU is becoming a well-funded and glorified WWE."

The accusation of narrative shortcut — "it's all cutting to the fight" — is the sharpest edge of the comment. Cage, 61, is arguing that Marvel films reduce even accomplished actors to costume and combat, a claim that has divided viewers since the quotes surfaced.

Cage is not a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but his superhero credentials run deep. He played the title character in Sony's Marvel series "Spider-Noir," which ran for one eight-episode season before cancellation. Earlier, he starred as the Marvel superhero Ghost Rider in two films: 2007's "Ghost Rider" and 2012's "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance."

The Ghost Rider character is now set to enter the MCU itself, with Ryan Gosling attached to the role. Shawn Levy will direct the film, which Disney has scheduled for release on July 28, 2028.

"Spider-Noir," adapted for television by Oren Uziel from the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man Noir, placed Cage's Ben Reilly in 1930s New York during the Great Depression. The character was described as "a seasoned, down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life following a deeply personal tragedy, as the city's one and only superhero."

Speaking to Variety before the show's premiere, Cage insisted his interest in the project lay not in its superhero roots but in its format: the series was designed in black and white as a classic film noir, with shades of German expressionism.

"I wanted to try to create an essence of some of my favorite old world actors because I wanted to embody that style — Bogart, Cagney, Edward G. Robinson — and designed my performance to fit within the black-and-white format," Cage said.

He admitted the transition to television unnerved him. "It was scary, and it was risky," he said. "I was constantly worried that I was going to get fired, because I was doing this thing of channeling old actors and colliding it with Stan Lee's masterpiece that is 'Spider-Man' to create this Roy Lichtenstein pop-art sensation of sorts. I didn't know until I finally saw the eight episodes whether it was going to work."

The contrast between Cage's stated ambitions for "Spider-Noir" — a marriage of studio-era acting, German expressionism and pop art — and his blunt characterization of the MCU as staged combat frames the debate his comments have ignited. With Gosling's "Ghost Rider" arriving in July 2028, the franchise Cage describes as a "glorified WWE" will soon revive the very character he played twice, offering an unusually direct test of his argument.