Ah, one of the age-old debates among science fiction fans: Star Wars or Star Trek? Chances are you’ve been asked this question at some point. We all have an answer, but some folks are much more ardent than others. Take Nicolas Cage, who recently said he would not forsake his loyalties as a devoted Star Trek fan to join Star Wars.
Cage has long been linked with a role in the galaxy far, far away. Last year, Pedro Pascal — who starred alongside Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent — openly spoke about his attempts to recruit Cage into The Mandalorian. “I already suggested [it]. I already said he would make a great Mandalorian,” Pascal said at D23. The Mandalorian executive producer and writer Rick Famuyiwa was all for it.
However, Cage has now dashed any hopes of that happening. “No is the answer, and I’m… not really down. I’m a Trekkie, man. I’m on the Star Trek, I’m on the Enterprise. That’s where I roll,” he told Yahoo Entertainment while promoting his new movie The Old Way.
Pedro Pascal tried to get Nicolas Cage to join The Mandalorian
So why does he prefer Trek? Well, there seems to be a little bias given that it’s the franchise he grew up up.
I grew up watching [William] Shatner. I thought [Chris] Pine was terrific in the movies. I think the movies are outstanding. I like the political and the sociological. To me, what science fiction is really all about and why it’s such an important genre is that is really where you can say whatever you want, however you feel. You put it on a different planet, you put it in a different time, in the future, and you can, without people just jumping on it. You can really express your thoughts, like [George] Orwell or whomever in the science fiction format. And Star Trek really embraced that, I thought. They got into some serious stuff.
As it happens, Cage has already embraced one big science fiction franchise; currently the biggest of them all, perhaps. Yes, I’m talking about Marvel, where he played Ghost Rider for two movies in 2007 and 2011. Those movies are better left forgotten, especially the sequel. Instead, we should remember him as the voice of Spider-Man Noir in Into the Spider-Verse.
He’s also got a little DC in his filmography too, thanks to Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. And Cage was once set to play Superman in a live-action film directed by Tim Burton, but that movie famously fell apart.
You might not be a huge Star Wars fan, but may the force be with you regardless, Nicolas Cage.
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