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While Dead by Daylight has seen licensed characters come to the game in the form of both killers and survivors, we have never seen an actor play themselves, until now that is. Movie star Nicolas Cage has made his way into Dead by Daylight, allowing survivors to repair generators, hide from killers, and escape as one of the most storied actors of all time. With a catalog of 40 years of work behind him, his selection of cosmetics could rival any of the other characters in the game, if movie studios are willing to play nicely. There are many Nicolas Cage characters with different looks, like superheroes, paranormal beings, treasure hunters, and prisoners that would be perfect for fans to play in the game.
1) Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider was not necessarily Cage’s first superhero role, but it’s probably the one that people associate him with the most. He appeared as the Spirit of Vengeance twice in live-action, first in Ghost Rider (2007), then in the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011). If you are unfamiliar with the Marvel character, he is Johnny Blaze, a stuntman who signed a deal with the devil that caused him to turn into Ghost Rider. Consumed by hellfire, his leather jacket and flaming skull are iconic. If Marvel doesn’t play ball, maybe they could get away with a bootleg version of him, sans motorcycle. A Spirit Halloween version of Cage’s Ghost Rider in the game would be pretty funny.
2) Nicolas Cage’s Superman
Nicolas Cage isn’t necessarily the most well-known version of Superman, but due to his cameo in The Flash, a Dead by Daylight Superman cosmetic could be a nice touch. If you don’t know the origins of his cameo, he was supposed to be the Man of Steel in a Tim Burton-led Superman movie in the 90s. This led to his cameo in The Flash, as an inside joke to those who knew about the story as told in Kevin Smith’s An Evening With Kevin Smith, and in the documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? Seeing Superman kneeling next to you while completing a generator in the game would be hilarious. Although, you would be left wondering why he couldn’t take down the killers. Maybe the Entity’s Realm could be on top of piles of Kryptonite, or under the rays of a red sun.
3) Peter Loew From Vampire’s Kiss
Before the Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent meme with Pedro Pascal, the most well-known Nicolas Cage meme was sourced from the face he pulled while playing Peter Loew in Vampire’s Kiss (1988). It wouldn’t be the first time Dead by Daylight threw in a cosmetic because the character was pulling a funny face, as the game already featured the Scary Movie version of the Ghostface mask.
4) Castor Troy From Face/Off
An excellent choice for a Dead by Daylight collaboration is Face/Off (1997). Cage plays Castor Troy, a criminal who switches faces with an FBI Agent named Sean Archer, as played by John Travolta. We might be able to use the priest outfit that he wears at the beginning of the film, instead of just his regular outfit. But the best thing about a Face/Off collaboration is that we could get a John Travolta cosmetic as a Legendary Outfit, which would be pretty cool.
5) Ben Gates From National Treasure
A fan-favorite Nicolas Cage film, the character Ben Gates from National Treasure (2004) appearing in the game would fit Dead by Daylight perfectly. The reason a National Treasure tie-in would work so well is because of the map item in the game. At first glance, the map could easily pass for the Declaration of Independence, which is the main object of interest in the film. As for the outfit, Behaviour Interactive could borrow from the sequel and put Cage in a tuxedo. Or just take some creative license and make him look like Indiana Jones a little – as long as we get some voice lines for the map, it should work amazingly.
6) Spider-Man Noir From Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
We might be getting a little bit overzealous by including two Marvel picks, but who doesn’t want to see Spider-Man Noir in Dead by Daylight? Cage’s character from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), who comes from a black-and-white world, is full of one-liners. Hearing “sometimes I let matches burn down to my fingertips just to feel something, anything,” while repairing a generator would make the price tag for the outfit worth it. A cosplay version of the outfit might work as well, with a trenchcoat rather than the full mask combination. That might get around the annoyance of not having any of the character’s powers.
7) Big Daddy From Kick-Ass
If there’s one non-powered Nicolas Cage character that could go up against bloodthirsty killers in the game it’s Big Daddy from Kick-Ass (2010). Cage’s character, Damon Macready, is one of a handful of vigilantes in the movie – one who is armed to the teeth. While he does get killed in the original 2010 film, he’s still a cool character. His alter ego’s costume is similar to Batman’s so it would be a good way to have a more armored superhero to play as, in addition to Superman’s tights. We just probably wouldn’t be able to play him armed.
8) Cameron Poe From Con Air
This is one of Nicolas Cage’s most iconic long-haired roles. He played the character Cameron Poe in Con Air (1997) and it would be perfect for an outfit in the game. Not only does Cage have long hair in the film, but he also plays a prisoner, giving us another unique outfit. He also wears a tank top in the movie, so we could get both outfits. It wouldn’t even need to be licensed – just throw him in a blue prison outfit or a tank top with long hair and he would look great.
9) Rob From Pig
You might not have seen Pig (2021), as it’s one of Cage’s more recent and lesser-known films. He plays a truffle farmer named Rob, who tries to find his pig after it’s kidnapped. There are two reasons that we should be able to play as Rob in Dead by Daylight. Firstly, the grey long-haired look is different from any of his other iconic looks. Secondly, having a man who loves a pig interact with and boop the snoot of The Pig Killer, Amanda Young, would quickly become a meme throughout the Dead by Daylight community. The parts of the community who take the lore seriously would have so much fun (in a wholesome way) with a man who loves a pig and a killer who dresses like a pig.
10) Dracula From Renfield
For a more recent pick, this is one of Nicolas Cage’s more unique looks from when he played the iconic horror character Dracula in Renfield (2023). Cage was the antagonist in the film, with his familiar, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), going up against him. It would be awesome if he could appear with his rotting face and sunken features, as it’s about time we had a scary-looking survivor to go up against the killers. They could even color him differently, so he appears as he does normally and then in black and white like the flashbacks in the movie. It’s just a shame we probably won’t ever see Nicolas Cage’s version of Dracula in Dead by Daylight as a killer instead.
