Behold The Nicolas Cage 'Superman Lives' Costume In All Its Heroic Glory

By now, you likely know the story of Tim Burton's aborted Superman Lives. The Batman director was set to take on the Man of Steel, working off a script penned by Kevin Smith, with none other than Nicolas Cage starring as the Last Son of Krypton. In the past, blurry behind-the-scenes images and footage have surfaced showing Cage in various costume fittings. Now we have our first clear look at the Superman Lives costume, and truth be told, it's not half bad.

Superman Lives will always remain one of the great "what-if?" movies – a never-made film that sounds both bizarre and intriguing. The stories of the doomed production have become legendary among movie fans, even inspiring a documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?. That doc featured some test footage of Cage getting fitted for his super-suit, and while it was fun to see the very un-Superman-like Cage standing around in rubber tights, the quality of the footage wasn't exactly HD.

But thanks to a recent episode of DC Daily, we have our first clear look at the costume Cage almost wore.

Honestly...this looks pretty good. The blue boots don't quite work, but other than that, this looks promising. Of course, a superhero costume is often only as good as the person who wears it. And while it's almost impossible to think of Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel, a part of me will always be disappointed that Superman Lives never came to pass. Cage obviously would not make for a traditional Superman, but the prospect of seeing the frequently manic actor zipping around as Supes is intriguing.

"I would offer that the movie that Tim and I would have made, in your imagination, is more powerful than any of the Superman movies," Cage told EW in the past. "I didn't even have to make the movie and we all know what that movie would have been in your imagination. That is the Superman. That is the movie. Even though you never saw it — it is the Superman."

While Cage never got to play a live-action Superman, he did get to voice the character in the animated Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. Cage has also dabbled in several other superhero properties. He appeared in the dark comedy Kick-Ass, played the lead in both Ghost Rider films, and can currently be heard as Spider-Man Noir in the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

You can watch the full reveal on DC Daily below.