History repeats itself. Or, in the case of Disney properties, history reboots itself. For the cult classic National Treasure franchise—which, if you don't remember, is essentially Indiana Jones meets Ken Burns: America—we were anticipating a new instalment for nearly 15 years. (The original film debuted in 2004 to the tune of $347 million at the box office; its last sequel, Book of Secrets, arrived in 2007.) Now, at long last, Disney+ released National Treasure: Edge of History, a young adult series that seems to be more focused on building the future of the franchise than digging up its past.
Of course, the series still packs in some of its signature charms, as any worthy reboot should, along with some tweaks to make the series fit for a new generation of fans. But, despite the series’s familiar premise—following a young treasure hunter on a mission to solve a historical mystery that involves her family—Edge of History is missing some key artifacts from the original source material. The most obvious missing piece of the puzzle being: Where the hell is Nicolas Cage?
Executive producer Marianne Wibberley confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 that Cage would not reprise his role National Treasure's protagonist, Benjamin Franklin Gates, in Season One of Edge of History due to scheduling conflicts. Of course, it’s not unheard of for talent to pass on opportunities in favour of other projects. But, for Nicolas Cage—a man who has become known for passing down nary a straight-to-VOD gig, let alone a Disney role as a franchise lead—Cage’s absence seemingly marks a shift in the actor’s career.
In honour of preserving our nation’s history, it's high time to reflect on the national treasure that is Benjamin Franklin Gates: the only kid’s movie protagonist to steal the Declaration of Independence—and up the ante by kidnapping the President of the United States in the sequel.
So much of what is beautiful about Benjamin Franklin Gates lies in character’s namesake alone—with a founding father shamelessly shoe-horned into it without any lick of nuance. It’s brazen, entirely unnecessary, and, ultimately… camp? It’s a role that only the rubber-faced, ever-earnest Cage could fully lean into.
Cage’s decision to take on the leading role in the 2004 kid’s conspiracy adventure movie— which Roger Ebert essentially reviewed as a Disney-fied Da Vinci Code—somehow makes perfect sense. Any role that most actors in Cage’s position would never take on seems to be where Cage delivers his best performances. In fact, Cage seems oddly at home in the role, his propensity for finding gravity in silliness on full display.
Not to mention: Cage and Gates share some parallels. Gates is an eccentric historian who, coming from a long line of treasure hunters, embarks on a wild goose chase through historical landmarks to clear his family name. Cage comes from the Coppola lineage of cinema greats, embarking on a scavenger hunt of offbeat roles in order to forge a name for himself. Maybe this connection is a reach! But we’re talking about a movie franchise where there’s an invisible-ink map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Roll with it.
What isn't a reach, though, is Cage’s role in the cultural shelf-life of the National Treasure franchise. Where critically-acclaimed '00s classics like Shrek and Finding Nemo hold rent-controlled real estate in our collective nostalgia, National Treasure had the potential to plummet into the “Did I fabricate that memory?” wasteland of childhood cinema. But no—not with Cage at its helm.
You might forget what National Treasure was about. You may forget whether or not you’ve even seen it. But no one—and I mean no one—will ever forget Nicolas Cage delivering the line, “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.”
Of course, if there’s one other hero responsible for preserving the memory of this cryptic cultural relic, it's the franchise’s subsequent memeage. (As you can guess, memes of Cage saying, “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence,” gained a second—or millionth—wind during the insurrection on January 6.) But, it doesn’t take a cryptographer to deduce the direct tie between National Treasure memes and the Internet’s decades-long penchant for memeifying Cage.
The strange phenomenon is something of a double-edged sword for the actor, who has gained both a reductively ridiculed reputation and a loyal cult following from his memes. The subgenre of memes is often referred to as “Cage Rage,” poking fun at Cage’s over-the-top, expressionist acting style. (One Cage Rage meme, known as the “You Don’t Say?” meme, is firmly in the canon alongside Bad Luck Brian and Success Kid.)
However immortal National Treasure might be, it’s unclear whether or not we've seen the last of Mr. Gates. The jury doesn’t seem to be totally out on an appearance from Cage in Season Two of Edge of History. And National Treasure 3 seems to be intermittently transcending from development hell to (at least) development purgatory. Director Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed in an August 2022 interview with ComicBook that a screenplay had been written for National Treasure 3 and was awaiting Cage’s approval.
However, Disney might have already burnt its bridge with Cage. In an interview with GQ, the actor cited his minor “flop era” of box office failures in the early 2010s, which included Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Ghost Rider. Cage said that Disney all but turned its back on him. "It was like, ‘What do you mean we're not doing National Treasure 3? It's been 14 years. Why not?’' Cage was quick to clarify that he has no hard feelings with Bruckheimer, solely referring to Disney as a "fair-weather friend" in the darker times of his career. "The phone stopped ringing," he says, point-blank.
Has Disney since given him a ring? Well, even if the Mouse House did, it seems highly plausible that the old Nic Cage can’t come to the phone right now. With indie hits Pig and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent solidifying a rebirth for Cage, and buzzy projects on the horizon like Universal's Dracula spinoff, Reinfeld—Cage has hit yet another definitive era in his career. As of right now, franchise grabs seem to be a thing of the past for him.
If the strange, lightning-in-a-bottle character that was Benjamin Franklin Gates is truly history, then we’ll cherish that era of Cage for the national treasure it was. Luckily, Cage's singular talent will continue to be a mystery for fans to decipher—whatever role he takes on next.
