Looking ahead to the upcoming premiere of his series on Prime Video, “Spider-Noir”, Nicolas Cage reviewed his career in Hollywood and confessed that his connection with the famous superhero could have originated more than two decades ago with the interpretation of ‘Green Goblin’. However, he preferred to decline the offer and forge his path as an actor away from this franchise.

According to the actor's testimony, in 2002 he held talks with director Sam Raimi about the possibility of playing the 'Green Goblin', the villain of the film starring Tobey Maguire.

Despite his admiration for the filmmaker, Nicolas Cage chose to reject the offer in order to join the cast of “The Orchid Thief,” in which he shared credits with Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper and Tilda Swinton.

“For me, that was the right decision at the time,” the 62-year-old artist told People magazine during the premiere of “Spider-Noir” in New York.

Cage explained that his decision was based on his desire not to be “tied down” to a role for the rest of his life, something he considered likely given the scope of the “Spider-Man” story.

"I've played a lot of villains. I like them both. I think they're both important parts of cinema. I wouldn't want to be stuck doing just one thing," added the 1996 Oscar winner.

His refusal to participate in Raimi's film ended up giving rise to the addition of the talent of Willem Dafoe in the role of “Norman Osborn” (Green Globin), whose performance became one of his performances as a villain most loved by the public in a superhero film.

So much so that Dafoe not only gave life to the famous goblin in 2002 and 2007 with Tobey Maguire as his counterpart, but also in 2021 through the Marvel film, “Spider-man: No way home”, from the saga headed by Tom Holland.

For his part, Nicolas Cage has carved out a place for himself in the Spider-Man universe twenty years after his rejection. This through the production “Spider-Noir”, an action series that will hit Prime Video screens this May 27.

According to the entertainment giant, the series is directed by Harry Bradbeer and presents the story of “Ben Reilly,” an older private detective operating in 1930s New York. About this character, producer Chris Miller said: “He's very different from the Peter Parker of the movies (…) He's older and jaded, and he's not afraid to punch a guy in the face when he's drunk.”

For his part, Nicolas Cage explained that for the construction of the character he resorted to several inspirations: “I wanted to take some of my favorite old-style actors, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and combine them with Stan Lee's masterpiece, Spider-Man, and create something new,” he said.