Nicolas Cage refused Amazon's AI waiver for Spider-Noir

Nicolas Cage said he refused to sign an AI waiver Amazon requested for the Prime Video series Spider-Noir. He says he probably will not work with the studio again.

Cage made the claim on October 10 during a Spotlight panel on the Empire Stage at New York Comic Con, as reported by Variety, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. Amazon has not responded to the waiver claim in any report, so the request is Cage's account.

Cage, 62, an Oscar winner known for "Moonstruck," "National Treasure" and "The Rock," starred in Spider-Noir as the lead, his first leading role in a television series. The show put a 1930s crime-thriller spin on Spider-Man.

Cage said on stage, according to Variety: "Amazon is a very AI-friendly company, to the tune of $50 billion invested in OpenAI. I am not an AI-friendly actor, so it's like, connect those dots! I'm not a member of their club. I didn't sign the waiver to let him use AI on 'Spider Noir.' I'm probably not going to be working with that studio again, but that's okay."

The $50 billion figure is Cage's own, offered from the stage. He did not cite a source for it, and Amazon has not commented on it.

Amazon canceled Spider-Noir after a single season in September 2026, days before the first weekend of the Emmy Awards, where it had earned 11 nominations, Variety reported. The show drew 2.6 billion minutes viewed in its first six weeks, Variety reported. None of the reporting establishes that the waiver refusal caused the cancellation, and Amazon has not given a reason for the decision.

Cage also said he wants to work with young Gen Z directors making things "from scratch and by hand," praising filmmakers who came up through YouTube. He added that his next project is likely a season of HBO's "True Detective," a role HBO had not confirmed when Variety published.

The remarks land amid a Hollywood still setting AI rules. Spider-Noir premiered in May, before SAG-AFTRA members ratified a 2026 TV/theatrical contract in June. That contract requires producers to show a synthetic performer brings "significant additional value" before using one in a human role, per the terms Variety reported and the union's contract page.

For people who make video, the episode underlines that a production's AI terms get set one deal at a time, even where a union contract sets the floor. A performer can decline a waiver, and the fallout can be a single working relationship rather than a studio-wide change.

Spider-Noir's one season is streaming on Prime Video, and the full 2026 SAG-AFTRA terms are on sagaftra.org.