Nicolas Cage really wants to play a Batman villain

at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, Nicolas Cage was asked about what roles he would like to play that he hasn't yet. Cage answered by pointing out the classic literary anti-hero Captain Nemo, but also a specific Batman villain from the 1966 TV series that starred Adam West:

I like... oh, here's something, I've been thinking about this, because we have this new, Robert Pattinson as the Batman, which I haven't seen it yet, but I think he would be terrific, the villain that Vincent Price played on the '60s show, Egghead.

Cage continued by expanding on how he would approach the Egghead character existing in the same world as

Robert Pattinson's version of the Dark Knight

:

I think I want to have a go at Egghead. I think I could make him absolutely terrifying. And I have a concept for Egghead. So let them know over at Warner Bros. I'm down for Egghead.

Egghead was a character that did not originate from the comic books. Instead, he was created for the TV show itself. The villain was played by horror icon Vincent Price. As the character's name implies, he was a scientific genius that used egg motifs for his gadgets. He was also fond of using egg puns in his dialogue (i.e. egg-sactly, egg-cellent, etc.).

It is interesting to note that the character was very much a tongue-in-cheek and campy bad guy, as is the norm with the psychedelic nature of the Adam West Batman TV series. Nicolas Cage playing a darker and more sinister version would be a challenge, particularly with the more grounded approach in The Batman.

But given how well Cage can switch from calm to manic in his roles like in Vampire's Kiss (1988), Face-Off (1997), and as Big Daddy in Kick-Ass (2010), he could certainly deliver a new, menacing spin on the absurdity of Egghead. Epic comeback Whether or not Nic Cage gets his wish to play Egghead in the DCEU or the alternate universe set in Matt Reeves's The Batman, 2022 might be the year the actor makes his epic comeback. Even other Hollywood stars like Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings own Simu Liu is looking forward to Cage's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent:

On that note, Cage may have to wait for a while before he gets his shot at a Batman villain role. Matt Reeves will be busy with developing The Batman sequel (which may or may not involve Barry Keoghan's version of The Joker), as well as the spinoffs for The Penguin, Catwoman, and Arkham Asylum on HBO Max. Meanwhile, Cage himself will be working on the western The Old Way and playing Dracula in Renfield.

Produced under Lionsgate, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent stars Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddishm Neil Patrick Harris, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, and Lily Sheen. Directed by Tom Gormica, the film releases to theaters on April 22, 2022.