A very unexpected spoiler is about to be revealed about next month's The Flash. Be warned that you might be about to be very surprised.

As if the prospect of seeing Michael Keaton return as Bruce Wayne/Batman isn’t enough to entice fans to see DC’s The Flash next month, the movie is going one better by featuring an actor in a role that didn’t actually make it to the screen years ago: Yes, Nicolas Cage will finally make his cinematic debut as Superman, more than a decade after it was originally meant to happen.

Cage’s cameo in the movie was announced weeks before the movie’s release by director Andy Muschietti, who told Esquire Middle East, “Nic was absolutely wonderful. Although the role was a cameo, he dove into it.”

Cage was originally going to appear as the Man of Steel in Superman Lives, a late 1990s movie that was intended to reboot the Superman movie franchise; the feature was in development with Tim Burton attached as director and Kevin Smith as writer. Christopher Walken was also attached to the project, rumored to play the villain Brainiac. Although the movie fell apart before production began — it was officially cancelled just three weeks ahead of shooting — it has since become a thing of Hollywood myth, with a 2015 documentary titled The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? exploring the troubled history of the project.

Cage continued to talk about Superman Lives for years afterwards, most recently earlier this year, when he suggested that Warner Bros. halted production because of the reception to Burton’s Mars Attacks: “Warner Brothers had lost a lot of money on the movie. These movies that are really weird, that challenge and break ground, they piss a lot of people off. I think they got cold feet,” he said.”

According to Muschetti, the brief opportunity to include Cage in The Flash fulfilled a longtime ambition: “I dreamt all my life to work with him,” he said. “I hope I can work with him again soon.”

The Flash races into theaters June 16. Check out everything you need to know about the movie here. Buy tickets at Fandango or Atom Tickets.

A surprise character has been revealed as appearing in The Flash via a toy tie-in.