Nicolas Cage supposedly biggest Raideen fan

[Taweret]

So, I was digging through this PC Gamer article about Super Robot Wars Y, and I stumbled upon this very serious claim:

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/super-robot-wars-y-pits-gundams-against-godzilla-in-a-huge-showcase-and-release-date-announcement-trailer/

Article states that Nicolas Cage is praising Raideen:

Curiously, Brave Raideen is joining the extra-old-school set of mechs. While not one I'm particularly familiar with, it does have one particularly notable fan: Nicolas Cage. The oddball Hollywood legend has officially sung the praises of the show, and it has been seen on his T-shirts at major events. Normally I'm unswayed by celebrity endorsements, but I'm willing to trust Nic Cage's recommendation for anti-Godzilla recruits.

Wait, what? Don't get me wrong, i fully believe Cage could be a Raideen superfan. This is the man who: Named his son "Kal-El", owns a pyramid tomb, probably has an Evangelion plug suit in his closet. But is there actual proof? The article links to a GQ interview, that I cant read. Did Nic Cage once scream "Gooodo Gooorgon!" in a deleted scene from Face/off? Did he wear a Raideen shirt to jury duty? We need answers. If true, this is peak Cage. Imagine him explaining Raideens lore on Hot Ones while eating a demonic wing. If false, SRW just pulled the greatest misinformation stunt since "Gundam is just for kids."
Personally, I love Raideen in old SRW games, god-tier bow animations, banger background music, and villains who probably inspired Mandy's cult (my favorite Nic Cage movie, because where else can you watch a man forge a battle-axe to fight chainsaw-wielding hell bikers on LSD?)

Speaking of SRW Y, GODZILLA IS HERE?! Was this known before the trailer, or did Bandai just drop the kaiju bomb? Either way, this might be the first Steam game with Godzilla (outside of GigaBashs DLC)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2161720/GigaBash__Godzilla_4_Kaiju_Pack/

Final serious wuestion: If Cage does really love Raideen, should he voice it in the next SRW?

[RiO]

Originally posted by Taweret:

Final serious wuestion: If Cage does really love Raideen, should he voice it in the next SRW?

That's reserved for Astro Boy. Nicolas Cage played the role of prof. Tenma; Astro's creator, in the 2009 CGI animated film of Astro Boy. One of the quotes attributed to Cage in relation to the movie is: "The fact that 'Astro Boy' appealed to me as a boy in America was proof that the story and character transcend cultural stereotypes."

In short, it's totally believable for him to have cherished memories of a property like Raideen as well.

Originally posted by Taweret:

Speaking of SRW Y, GODZILLA IS HERE?! Was this known before the trailer, or did Bandai just drop the kaiju bomb?

It was apparently talked about in a rather uncanny way on 4chan's /m/ board, a few days before the site was raided, hacked, and taken offline last week.

Uncanny, as it very specifically made mention of Singular Point for having Jet Jaguar - thus enabling Godzilla to be the 'odd one out'-inclusion of the game such as Nadia and Bebop had been before. And it came accompanied with some other oddball posts, about the use of Kaiser in DD not necessarily locking Kaiser and OAV Kouji out of use in mainline console titles.

Almost as if someone actually did know, and was trying to carefully spell out an info-leak, without actually wording it as one.

[Lord Bidón]

The same article also claims that Dynazenon is an Ultraman spin-off and that Super Robot Wars Z had an english release.
Not that I don't believe them, but I find it funny that they searched for a paywalled article as a source for Nicolas Cage's love for Raideen, yet didn't bother to double-check those two small details.

[RiO]

Originally posted by Lord Bidón:

The same article also claims that Dynazenon is an Ultraman spin-off and that Super Robot Wars Z had an english release.

They're not entirely wrong. SSSS Dynazenon is a spin-off of SSSS Gridman. SSSS Gridman is a continuation of the original Gridman series, which was spun off from the Ultraman franchise - though not in the exact sense of being a side-story of the same IP. Gridman was its own thing story- and lore-wise; it just borrowed the overall format, formula, and motifs.

Also the SRW Z thing was obviously a typo and meant to be V.

[Lord Bidón]

Originally posted by RiO:

They're not entirely wrong. SSSS Dynazenon is a spin-off of SSSS Gridman. SSSS Gridman is a continuation of the original Gridman series, which was spun off from the Ultraman franchise - though not in the exact sense of being a side-story of the same IP. Gridman was its own thing story- and lore-wise; it just borrowed the overall format, formula, and motifs.

No. It's still wrong, and at best, it's misleading.
The only connection they have is that they were made by the same company. That's it.
Gridman, neither SSSS.Gridman nor SSSS.Dynazenon, are spin-offs of Ultraman.
They're about as related as Mazinger Z is to Getter Robo, or Evangelion is to Gurren Lagann.
The article seemed more interested in writing about Nicolas Cage than about Super Robot Wars or any of the series involved.

With that said, I rewrote this answer like three times, and I still sound more like an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ than the humorous, funny guy I'm trying to be, so... erm... yeah.
Super Robot Wars cool.
Nicolas Cage liking Raideen funny.
PCGamer article bad.
RiO's info better than whole article.