Nicolas Cage Sets The Record Straight On His Ghost Rider Abs

There are some movie mysteries that keep fans up at night. Does the totem really topple in "Inception"? What's whispered in the final scene of "Lost in Translation"? What does the rest of Zack Snyder's Knightmare world look like after his take on the "Justice League"? Sorry. Too soon? Besides the many mysteries that continue to cause debate among moviegoers, one question that has plagued the movie-loving history of humanity involves Nicolas Cage, a defined set of abs, and the legitimacy of the whole thing.

In the 2007 film "Ghost Rider," Cage makes his debut as Johnny Blaze, a.k.a. Ghost Rider, showing off some extremely muscular abs. Ever since the movie's release, various theories have circulated the internet over just how accurate the shirtless Cage is. While fans would never dream of discrediting the Academy Award-winning icon, it seems like many believe Blaze's defined batch of muscle mass is just CGI trickery. Thankfully, following a recent sit-down perusing online discussion threads, Cage has cleared up the whole thing.

While his first take on the enflamed-chain-throwing spirit of vengeance didn't receive the level of praise we may have hoped — earning a low 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – one thing that can't be taken away from the film is the hard work the star put into his physique. 

In a recent appearance for GQ's "Actually Me" YouTube video series, Cage set the record straight, saying that it was the doubt from audiences that convinced him that he'd never display his abs again. Replying to a fan's question about whether or not the muscles were CGI, Cage said, "They are real and that's why I will never work out that hard again because nobody wanted to believe they were real," he explained. "They wanted to believe it was CGI, which it wasn't. So, what's the point?"

It's a shame that this was the response he got from all his hard work for "Ghost Rider." With that in mind, always remember that before the likes of Hemsworth, Evans, and Pratt showed off their muscular abs, it was Cage's chiseled center mass scorching up the screens, and we all just chose to deny it. Heck, he deserves his vengeance just for that. Sorry, Mr. Cage.