Nicolas Cage will finally get to grace the screen as Superman! Albeit as an animated character. Over 20 years after first signing on to play the Man of Steel for director Tim Burton in the abandoned Superman Lives, USA Today reports that the actor has signed on to voice the role of Superman in Teen Titans GO! to the Movies. The feature film adaptation of the popular Cartoon Network series hails from Warner Bros. so the rights issues weren’t a problem, and Cage will now get to play Superman in a movie. Additionally, singer/songwriter Halsey will voice Wonder Woman while rapper Lil Yachty plays Green Lantern.
Cage was famously set to play Superman in Burton’s Superman Lives, which was planned as the Batman director’s next big project in 1998 after Mars Attacks!, but after multiple delays owing to script and budget issues, Burton left the film to go make Sleepy Hollow. A new Superman movie languished in development hell for years, until finally Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns came to the screen in 2006—only to be rebooted once more with 2013’s Man of Steel.
The entire Superman Lives saga is chronicled in Jon Schnepp’s terrific documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?, if you want to know more, but both Burton and Cage were passionate about bringing their take on Superman to the big screen.
While Teen Titans GO! to the Movies is a far cry from that feature, it’s a fair consolation prize and will surely be a valid reason for superfans to check out the animated feature. The film is slated to open in theaters on July 27th and finds Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy seeking out a popular Hollywood director for their big pop-culture break. Check out the trailer below.
Here's the official synopsis for Teen Titans GO! to the Movies:
“Teen Titans GO! to the Movies” finds our egocentric, wildly satirical Super Heroes in their first feature film extravaganza—a fresh, gleefully clever, kid-appropriately crass and tongue-in-cheek play on the superhero genre, complete with musical numbers. It seems to the Teens that all the major superheroes out there are starring in their own movies—everyone but the Teen Titans, that is! But de facto leader Robin is determined to remedy the situation, and be seen as a star instead of a sidekick. If only they could get the hottest Hollywood film director to notice them. With a few madcap ideas and a song in their heart, the Teen Titans head to Tinsel Town, certain to pull off their dream. But when the group is radically misdirected by a seriously super villain and his maniacal plan to take over the Earth, things really go awry. The team finds their friendship and their fighting spirit failing, putting the very fate of the Teen Titans themselves on the line!