Nicolas Cage called the Marvel Cinematic Universe "glamorized wrestling"

Nicolas Cage, whose recent work includes the Sony and Marvel series "Spider-Man: Noir" (Spider-Noir), criticized the Marvel Cinematic Universe, calling it an overfunded and shameful spectacle, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.

"I say this with love," Cage said at a fan convention in Texas. "When I see these actors—who are over 50, who are intelligent and extraordinarily talented people—putting on these ridiculous costumes and getting ready for a fight (and ultimately, everything comes down to a fight anyway), it's hard for me not to think that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is turning into lavishly funded and 'glamorized' wrestling (WWE)."

Cage's collaboration with Marvel—the company headed for many decades by comic-book creator Stan Lee—includes not only the series "Spider-Man: Noir" (which was canceled after its first season), but also two films in which he played the superhero Ghost Rider.

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The 62-year-old Cage told Variety that his interest in the "Spider-Man: Noir" project was primarily aesthetic. "I wanted to try to recreate the spirit of some of my favorite old-school actors," he said, "because I wanted to embody that style—Bogart, Cagney, Edward G. Robinson—and I built my performance so that it would suit the black-and-white format."

Other film stars and directors who have expressed skepticism about Marvel films include Martin Scorsese (he compared them to "theme parks") and Francis Ford Coppola (who called the company's activities "despicable").

Denis Villeneuve remarked that, in his view, there are "too many Marvel films that are nothing more than the result of a 'cut-and-paste' method from other movies," while Ken Loach called superhero cinema "boring" and "a cynical exercise that has nothing to do with the art of cinema."

Cage's next major role will be the title role in David O. Russell's biographical film about Super Bowl impresario John Madden.