Cage looks back on the first time he met the creator of ‘Spider-Man’ and describes it as a really important moment. He’s a huge fan of Stan Lee and considers himself one of his biggest supporters. In a special interview with PEOPLE at the 51st Saturn Awards, the actor talks about how Lee influenced his perspective on being creative and compares him to a father figure who’s into surrealism. Cage admits that Lee played a big role in his childhood and he has great memories of their interactions. Even though he didn’t get the chance to work with Lee like he wanted to, Cage really admires his passion for life and all the amazing things he created. He believes that Lee, along with Walt Disney, had a huge impact on the whole world’s culture. Cage is really grateful for the opportunity to meet Lee and says that it meant a whole lot to him. He’s mentioned before how much he looks up to Lee and even named himself after a character that Lee created. While he enjoys watching Marvel movies, Cage says that he doesn’t necessarily have to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because he’s Nic Cage, and that’s pretty awesome on its own.
During my childhood, at that age when I was easily influenced, I learned how to read and perceive life differently. It was during this time that I discovered new words like “opaque,” although I had no idea how to pronounce it when I was just six years old. But I had my lemon cookies and NyQuil, and I immersed myself in his books and comic books.
Although the famous actor doesn’t have an extensive collection of comic books at the moment, he proudly mentions that he has kept one special item related to Stan Lee: “I have a picture of me and Stan hugging.”
To balance out the presence of Stan Lee, Cage also highlights his admiration for the father of Superman, DC Comics. He reveals, “On the other side, I have one of Joe Shuster’s original drawings of the Superman character. He wrote it to a fan and drew the picture. I keep it on my piano at home, and it’s truly a beautiful thing.”