Inside Nicolas Cage's 'Superman' Movie and How 'The Flash' Cameo Nods to Tim Burton's Canceled Adaptation

etonline.com:

After watching, even the biggest DC Comics fans might be asking why Nicolas Cage played Superman in one of the many colliding alternate universes in Barry Allen’s (Ezra Miller) Speed Force showdown.

While Michael Keaton’s highly-anticipated return as Batman was the most substantial tribute among several loving homages to past adaptations, the most surprising nod is to another Tim Burton comic book project, . «It's a different time now.

We're going into the new millennium,» Cage said in 1997. «I think it's time to reexamine the myth of Superman.»The Oscar winner explained his vision for the Man of Steel to ET across multiple interviews in the late ‘90s, and conversely shared his disappointment after the film was canceled shortly before cameras were set to roll.And with that, here’s a timeline of the movie’s doomed production, from its gestation in development hell to the few-weeks span that separated its peak promise and crumbling demise. «Superman, to me, is a character who is a misfit,» Cage told ET in May 1997. «He's an alien from another planet and he's trying to fit in, so there's a lot you can do with those feelings of not being normal.»«It’s like, the English have Shakespeare and they're very proud of it,» he added. «And the Greeks have their myths.

And America has Superman. And Batman. And Mickey Mouse. And this is our major export.»At the time, it had been a decade since the glasses-wearing Daily Planet reporter last graced the silver screen (with Christopher Reeve’s final turn in 1987's ).