Nicolas Cage as The Joker could be a masterstroke – or a major mistake

The very good, or very bad actor, depending on your tastes, has said that he would like to play Batman’s nemesis.

Will the studios take the bait?If there were ever a Marmite actor, dividing opinion equally between those who believe he is a maverick genius and those who see him as a giant ham, it is Nicolas Cage.

When the part is right, as it was for Cage’s Oscar-winning role as a suicidal alcoholic in Mike Figgis’s Leaving Las Vegas, or as an unhinged cop in Werner Herzog’s mesmeric Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, he is one of the most watchable actors on the planet.

When Cage goes too far out on a limb – one need hardly mention his infamous “The bees!” scene in Neil Labute’s horrendous 2006 remake of The Wicker Man – it can feel as if he is not only appearing

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