Nicolas Cage says he refused to sign an AI waiver connected to Spider-Noir, the television series in which he stars. Speaking at New York Comic Con on October 10, he said he was “probably” finished working with Amazon. His account raises a specific question about performer consent, but the proposed waiver has not been made public. Its terms, purpose and effect remain unknown.

The Los Angeles Times and TheWrap separately reported Cage's remarks at the convention. The official Saturday schedule places Cage on the Empire Stage on October 10. Neither outlet published the waiver itself. Both sought a response from Amazon; each reported that one had not arrived at the time of publication.

The big change

  • What changed: Cage publicly said he declined a request to sign a waiver allowing AI use on Spider-Noir and expects that choice may affect future work with Amazon.
  • Why it matters: A performer's decision about proposed AI permission is a separate question from whether AI was used in the completed program. His refusal is documented as his account; the permission he was asked to grant is not documented publicly.
  • What remains open: The waiver's wording, who requested it, the specific use contemplated and Amazon's account of the exchange. No public evidence links the disagreement to the series' reported cancellation.

What Cage said, and what it establishes

TheWrap quotes Cage saying, “I didn't sign the waiver to let them use AI on ‘Spider Noir.’” He called himself “not an AI-friendly actor” and said he would “probably” not work with the studio again. The Los Angeles Times independently reported the refusal and his comments. The two reports establish that he made the allegation in public; they do not verify the document's terms or show that a proposed use went ahead.

That distinction matters because “AI use” can describe different activities in a production. A request involving a performer's digital likeness or voice would raise different questions from one about effects elsewhere in a show. Cage did not identify the technology, a scene, an asset or a proposed date of use in the remarks quoted by the two outlets. The waiver may have supplied those details, but its text is unavailable. It would be premature to describe it as permission for a digital replica, training on his performance, or any other particular application.

The Prime Video description of Spider-Noir confirms that Cage stars in the Sony Pictures Television production and that it is streaming on Prime Video, following a domestic debut on MGM+. Amazon says viewers can choose black-and-white or color versions. That is distribution and presentation context, not evidence about the waiver or the use of generative AI. The finished series' availability also does not tell us when Cage says he was approached or what his refusal changed in production.

TheWrap describes the series as canceled after one season. That status supplies context for Cage's remark about future work, but the reporting does not connect the cancellation decision to the waiver. The show was already available to audiences before his October 10 comments. Without a statement from the decision makers or contemporaneous production records, neither a motive for cancellation nor an effect of the refusal can be assigned to the dispute.

The consent question is narrower than the speculation

Performers have an established reason to scrutinize requests for AI permission. SAG-AFTRA's 2026 TV and theatrical agreement, effective July 1, describes protections for digital replicas and synthetics, building on earlier consent rules. A digital replica resembles an identifiable performer; a synthetic performer is a separate category under the union's terms. The agreement's existence helps explain why the scope and specificity of consent matter. It does not identify Cage's proposed waiver, establish which agreement governed the production, or show whether anyone breached a contract.

Cage's account is thus a concrete example of an actor saying no to a requested AI permission, with the practical consequence still unverified. Readers can distinguish three questions as more evidence emerges: What exactly did the proposed document authorize? Did the production make any AI use relevant to his performance? Did his refusal affect a future engagement? For now, only Cage's reported refusal and his stated expectation about Amazon are on the record. Amazon's explanation and the document would be needed to settle the rest.

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