The Flash is one of the most anticipated films of the year with seals of approval from Hollywood superstar, Tom Cruise, and the revered horror author, Stephen King. More importantly, the film impressed in audience screenings last year with its test scores rivaling The Dark Knight trilogy. Furthermore, the film also wowed critics and journalists who attended this year’s CinemaCon where it was screened.

Now, Andy Muschietti, who directed the film, has revealed that Hollywood star Nicolas Cage will make a cameo appearance in the film as Superman.

Cage was originally billed to star as Superman in 1998 but dropped out after the studio ordered multiple rewrites on top of the multiple director changes. The fact that his appearance as Superman in The Flash comes 25 years later and in the middle of his career renaissance is a bit poetic.

According to Muschietti, Cage pulled off the role perfectly. In his words, "Nic was absolutely wonderful. Although the role was a cameo, he dove into it."

As to why he cast Cage in the role, the Argentine director revealed that he has long been an admirer of the Hollywood star. He stated, "I dreamt all my life to work with him. I hope I can work with him again soon."

Cage is a lifelong comic books fan. The actor, whose real name is Nicolas Kim Coppola, adopted the name Cage from the Marvel Comics character Luke Cage and composer John Cage. However, he has a fondness for Superman as is evident in the fact that he named his son, born in 2005, Kal-El after the character’s cultural Kryptonite name.

Given Cage’s love for the character, there is hardly any doubt that his canceled Superman project cut deep. Earlier in the year, during an interview with Variety, the 59-year-old opened up about the film. He stated, "It was more of a 1980s Superman with like, the samurai black long hair. I thought it was gonna be a really different, sort of emo Superman, but we never got there."

While he didn’t – and won’t ever – get to star as one of his favorite characters, we hope his cameo appearance will offer him some form of closure.

By the way, Warner Bros. Discovery recently released the final trailer for The Flash ahead of its worldwide debut next month. The trailer shows the titular character tampering with time despite Batman’s advice not to do. It also revealed another surprise actor – Jeremy Irons returning as Alfred Pennyworth from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Irons joins Michael Keaton who starred as Batman in 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns and Ben Affleck who was Batman in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League.

Michael Shannon who starred as General Zod in 2013’s Man of Steel and 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will also reprise this role.

While there's no indication there will be other returning characters in The Flash, the fact that it takes place across different timelines makes it a possibility and we will hardly be surprised if another beloved DC character makes a surprise appearance.

The Flash will debut in theaters worldwide on June 16.