Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Flash from the outset.

Director Andy Muschietti has revealed some intriguing details regarding one of the more surprising cameos in The Flash. Speaking with The Playlist, the filmmaker revealed that, and here’s your final SPOILER warning, Oscar winner and Hollywood icon Nicolas Cage filmed his cameo as Superman in person, with the actor even donning a brand-new superhero suit.

“We talked with Nicolas, and we decided to shoot him in his suit. And so, we built the suit with the same costume designer that built the suit for the unproduced Superman Lives, which is a movie that would have been great, but nobody will see because it wasn’t made.”

The fact that Cage was there in the flesh begs the question, why does the scene look like it’s fully CGI? The finale of The Flash finally allowed Cage to fulfill his long-held dreams of playing the Man of Steel, dreams that almost came to fruition in the late 1990s with the failed Tim Burton helmed DC movie, Superman Lives. Thus, Cage at last dons the suit, sports the long hair, and battles a giant spider, all things that Muschietti was delighting to bring to the big screen.

“The excitement was shared with Nicolas. And Nicolas is such a kind guy, and I think he shared the enthusiasm for bringing back that movie that was never done – even for a couple minutes in our movie. And yeah, the magic of the multiverse is expressing that this universe exists, even though it’s a movie that nobody saw. So, we’re kind of saying that there is a Superman Lives.”

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Why Do The Flash Cameos Look So… Off
Warner Bros. Pictures

Cage’s cameo as Superman in The Flash is arguably rather niche, but Muschietti doesn’t mind, with the director far too excited to see the actor in a red cape to worry about whether anyone would be left confused.

“Yes, [we were nervous], but the excitement of doing it overrode everything. It’s like, of course, someone said, ‘What about the people that don’t know that Nicolas Cage [was going to be Superman]. Wouldn’t it be a funny moment to see Nicolas Cage out of nowhere dressed as Superman?’ And our answer was, ‘We don’t care!’”

Cage’s Superman comes as part of a cavalcade of controversial cameos towards the end of The Flash, including the likes of Christopher Reeve, Adam West, and George Reeves, all of which look like glaringly unrealistic CGI. Of course, most of these actors are no longer with us, but with the confirmation that Nicolas Cage physically filmed his cameo, many will be left questioning why his appearance is so wonky.

For his part, Muschietti has stated that everything looking so…off was intentional. “The idea, of course, is…we are in the perspective of the Flash,” the filmmaker explained. “Everything is distorted in terms of lights and textures. We enter this ‘waterworld’ which is basically being in Barry’s POV. It was part of the design so if it looks a little weird to you that was intended.”

Directed by Andy Muschietti from a screenplay by Christina Hodson, and starring Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, and Michael Keaton, The Flash is out now in theaters.