One of the most beloved aspects about Batman as a franchise is the colorful rogues gallery. From the sinister to the silly, even the same character has varied wildly during Bruce Wayne’s long, long career. Look at the fun, campy Joker played by César Romero in the 1966 Batman series in contrast with Joaquin Phoenix’s gritty, brutal interpretation in 2019’s Joker.
The 1966 series with Adam West as the titular caped crusader was firmly on the goofy side of the villains. Characters like the Bookworm who committed literary-themed crimes or Louie the Lilac, a purple-colored gangster who loved floral arrangements, kept things light while Batman and Robin defeated them with a BAM! and a POW!
One of the villains created for the series was Egghead, played by horror legend Vincent Price. As the name implies, Egghead is meant to be the smartest villain in the world. He is also obsessed with eggs and makes many awful “yolks” that egg-spress that part of his identity. And of course, as only Vincent Price can do, he chews the scenery with glorious relish (or maybe hollandaise).
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However, if anyone could rival Vincent Price in zany over-the-top scenery chewing, it might just be Nick Cage. The actor has a long and award-winning career, but there’s no denying that a certain amount of fan love comes from his more absurd roles. No matter if he’s wearing a bear suit and punching a woman in The Wicker Man or wearing fake fangs in Vampire’s Kiss, audiences love some unhinged Nick Cage.
Recently the actor spoke about a role he would love to play: Egghead.
“I’ve been thinking about this, because we have this new, Robert Pattinson as the Batman… The villain that Vincent Price played on the ’60s show, Egghead. I think I want to have a go at Egghead,” Cage said.
“You know what I mean it’s like, Egghead is Vincent Price right? He’s one of our other great American superstar actors that I revere and had so much fun watching growing up,” the actor said. “So I was watching the Batman show because I really wanted to see what Vincent Price was going to do. And the character’s hilarious. I mean, everything starts with ‘Egg-cellent.’ And it’s, ‘Egg-static.'”
It sounds like Cage’s Egghead would follow the Joker trend of favoring edge over camp. “I think I could make him absolutely terrifying,” Cage said.
