Nicolas Cage reveals why he once turned down 'Spider-Man' villain role

Nicolas Cage admitted that he always avoids being “trapped” into playing the same type of role throughout his career.

​During a recent chat with People at the Spider-Noir premiere in New York City, the 62-year-old Oscar winner spoke about whether he prefers playing heroes or villains.

​He told the magazine when asked about which roles he prefers, “Villain? I've played plenty of villains. I like both. I think they're both important parts of cinema. I would not want to get trapped into doing one thing."

​Cage also revealed that he once spoke to director Sam Raimi about possibly playing the "Green Goblin" in the early 2000s Spider-Man films, but he chose to do the 2002 movie Adaptation instead.

​“I decided to do another movie, a much smaller noir of sorts, more romantic than tragic noir,” he explained. “But I remember saying to Sam, ‘I hope whoever you cast [as Spider-Man] really embraces the arachnid body language, at least for one moment. Alone in his apartment, he's crawling on the ceiling or something.’”

​The role of "Green Goblin" eventually went to Willem Dafoe, while Tobey Maguire played Spider-Man. Cage was later nominated for an Oscar for Adaptation and later won an Academy Award for Leaving Las Vegas.

​Over the years, Cage played many villain roles, including Marvel's Ghost Rider, Longlegs and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

​In the upcoming Spider-Noir, Cage plays Ben Reilly, a private investigator in 1930s New York with spider-like abilities. Cage revealed that for the character he wanted "to blend ‘some of my favorite old-style actors, [James] Cagney, [Humphrey] Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and collide them with Stan Lee's masterpiece, Spider-Man, and create something new.’”

​In another interview, he described the character as “70 percent Bogart, and 30 percent Bugs Bunny.”

​Spider-Noir is all set to premiere on MGM+ on May 25 and on Prime Video on May 27.