KICK-ASS: Brad Pitt Was Matthew Vaughn's First Choice To Play Big Daddy Before Nic Cage Landed The Role

Believe it or not, it's been ten years since Kick-Ass arrived in theaters, and director Matthew Vaughn has now revealed that he originally wanted Brad Pitt to take on the role of Big Daddy in the film...

By JoshWilding - Apr 18, 2020 04:04 AM EST

Filed Under: Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary, and in a very interesting look at the movie's legacy over at The Hollywood Reporter, director Matthew Vaughn drops some surprising titbits about his adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s popular comic book series.

While Nicolas Cage would ultimately steal the show as Big Daddy, Vaughn reveals that it was a role he originally wanted Brad Pitt to take on. The filmmaker met the actor while he was working on Guy Ritchie's Snatch, but when the Oscar-winner decided to star in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, Vaughn instead enlisted Cage (who definitely put his own unique stamp on the character).

"I knew Nic loved comic books and superheroes, and this script was a love letter to superheroes," Vaughn explained. "The film imagines what it would be like if the ultimate fanboy suddenly decided to play superhero, and some people mistakingly felt we were attacking the genre, but I knew Nic would buy in."

Pitt has yet to star in a superhero movie, and while he was rumoured to play Cable in Deadpool 2, he instead made a blink and you'd miss it cameo appearance as The Vanisher. It's somewhat surprising that he hasn't joined a major Marvel or DC production, but you could say the same about Cage, especially as his Adam West-inspired Big Daddy made such a lasting impact among fans.

Who do you think Pitt could play after missing out on Kick-Ass all those years ago?

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24 Comments

Chewtoy - 4/18/2020, 4:36 AM

Nick Cage always seems to have one more excellent performance every few years to keep from being written off as a joke for all of the schlock he does otherwise. I’m glad that he got this role.

On an unrelated but kind of similar note, I watched the retrospective “Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary” on Amazon Prime last night. Good stuff, with all of major people participating (except, sadly, Alan Rickman naturally), as well as some big names from geek culture (Kevin Feige doesn’t appear, but does get named dropped as being a fan.)

I hadn’t realized that Harold Ramis was originally attached to direct, and the list of names sought for the Lead role would have certainly made a very different film.

SimplyAz - 4/18/2020, 4:43 AM

@Chewtoy -

I didn't realise it was on Amazon Prime, thanks man, will check it out tonight.

First saw Galaxy Quest on a Aeroplane going to a family holiday and being absolutely amazed by how good it was, such a great cast as well

BrainySleep - 4/18/2020, 4:44 AM

Can definitely see Brad Pitt in the role. But glad it was Cage, loved him in this.

marvel72 - 4/18/2020, 6:25 AM

Kick Ass was good, loved Nick Cage impression of Adam West Batman.

Canon108 - 4/18/2020, 7:01 AM

Pitt woukd be awesome in the MCU...Dr. Doom or Magneto possibly, but my pick for Magneto would be Pierce Brosnan.

MrPogi - 4/18/2020, 8:57 AM

Cage did the voice of Spider-man Noir in Into the Spiderverse and Superman in TTGTTM. :) Hope he still gets into more of the genre in the future, guy is crazy!

GhostDog - 4/18/2020, 9:00 AM

Cage was a better fit

QuietStorm - 4/18/2020, 9:29 AM

Reeds2Much - 4/18/2020, 9:42 AM

Brad Pitt

Sorry, Pitt just doesn't have the "normal yet crazy" vibe that Cage excels at.

THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 4/18/2020, 9:42 AM

Cage all the way.

KICK-ASS: Brad Pitt Was Matthew Vaughn's First Choice To Play Big Daddy Before Nic Cage Landed The Role

Believe it or not, it's been ten years since Kick-Ass arrived in theaters, and director Matthew Vaughn has now revealed that he originally wanted Brad Pitt to take on the role of Big Daddy in the film...

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