Nicolas Cage set for Marvel Comics role

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Nicolas Cage has signed on to appear in an indie movie adaptation of Marvel Comics' "Kick-Ass" book imprint, sources say.

Cage will play a former cop who advises a high school loser, to be played by Aaron Johnson, how to turn himself into a superhero, the Hollywood Reporter said Friday, citing unnamed sources. The film is to be produced by Matthew Vaughn and his Marv Films partner Kris Thykier as independent because the major studios reportedly passed on the project as too violent and bloody.

The source material is a Marvel Comics comic book series from writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr., the newspaper said. It also will star Lyndsy Fonseca as the female object Johnson's affections, who thinks he's gay.

The Reporter said a fall shoot in London and Toronto is planned.