Nicolas Cage almost joined the long list of Marvel characters appearing in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Ryan Reynolds recently revealed that Nicolas Cage was considered to reprise his iconic role as Ghost Rider.

The idea of bringing Cage back as the fiery anti-hero was discussed during the film’s development, but unfortunately, it didn’t come to fruition.

In a recent interview with Collider, Ryan Reynolds mentioned that the team behind Deadpool & Wolverine discussed the possibility of bringing back Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider in Deadpool & Wolverine. 

Reynolds said, “Yes. [It] came to a conversation for sure. Yeah, but no.”

Cage’s return as Johnny Blaze in Deadpool & Wolverine would have been legendary. Unlike many other superhero films outside the MCU, Ghost Rider was well-received by audiences. 

Nicolas Cage originally portrayed Ghost Rider in the 2007 film Ghost Rider and its 2011 sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Since Reynolds didn’t provide specifics, we’ll never know why Cage didn’t return to play his iconic character.

It’s possible that Nicolas Cage declined a Deadpool 3 cameo due to his dissatisfaction with his appearance as Superman in 2023’s The Flash. 

In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, he previously expressed his frustration.

He said, “When I went to the picture, it was me fighting a giant spider. I did not do that. That was not what I did. 

I don’t think it was created by AI. I know Tim (Burton) is upset about AI, as I am. It was CGI, ok, so that they could de-age me, and I’m fighting a spider. I didn’t do any of that, so I don’t know what happened there.”

There is also a possibility that  Nicolas Cage might have skipped the cameo because he’s set to play Spider-Man Noir in an upcoming live-action series.

He may have wanted to avoid any overlap between his roles.

Despite this, fans might still see Nicolas Cage return as Ghost Rider in future films like Avengers: Secret Wars, where there could be a logical way to pave the path of his return.

These are purely speculations at this point; only time will tell whether Cage will actually return to the legendary role of Johnny Blaze once again.

Deadpool & Wolverine is currently playing in theaters.