Summer arrives early this year with the release of Ghost Rider, the kind of special-effects laden sci-fi spectacle typically reserved for the warmer months. It's based on the popular Marvel Comics title, about a motorcycle daredevil cursed to transform nightly into a fiery, chain-wielding demon hunter, thanks to a botched deal with Satan.

Playing the part of the Ghost Rider is Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage, the talented star of films like Adaptation and The Wicker Man. Cage was heavily involved with the movie from the beginning, altering elements of the story to suit his vision for the character. "It's a deeply personal character and I was trying to find a new way of presenting how he would keep dark spirits at bay," explains Cage. "I didn't want him being a heavy drinker or chain smoker. I wanted him eating jellybeans so that he wouldn't invite the devils in and I wanted him listening to Karen Carpenter to help him relax -- so that he wouldn't invite the devil in with satanic Goth rock or something -- and he's watching chimpanzees do karate instead of The Exorcist."

"All three of those things I was doing in my own life," adds Cage. "I was eating jellybeans out of a martini glass and listening to Karen Carpenter and on the internet watching chimps do karate."

Cage finds the Ghost Rider character eminently relatable, despite the flaming skull and demonic motorcycle. "What I really love about this character is that we're all him," says Cage. "We all have human skulls. You've got one, I've got one, we've all got one. And we look at it and go, 'That's scary.' And then after a little while you go, 'Wait a minute. That's beautiful. He's human and he's a total badass. He's fighting the dark forces, but he's human."

Though he considers Ghost Rider to be one of his favorite characters, Cage stops short of committing to a sequel. "It depends on the reaction from the movie going audiences, whether they're enthusiastic about it and if there is a good script," he explains, "but I would say that out of all the characters that I've played my interests coincide with where this particular character could go...I'm very interested in the spiritual and the material and that this is the one superhero that walks between both worlds. I think that's pretty exciting because he's new. There is a lot of room for adventure with this guy."

Cage has some choice words for the magazine Entertainment Weekly, which recently chided the Oscar winner for making a comic book movie. "That's really shallow thinking because they can't get outside their own box," he vents. "They don't understand the concept of what I would say is art. You have different styles and you can choose to be photo-realistic like World Trade Center or you can be pop art illustrative. Why limit yourself to one style of acting?"

"When you look at Ghost Rider you see a comic book story structure which digs a little deeper," Cage adds. "It doesn't take itself too seriously, of course...but it's coming from classic themes like Faust with Goethe or Thomas Mann or Beauty and the Beast."

Despite the impressive literary influences, comic book flicks like Ghost Rider still struggle for critical respect. "The deserve to (be taken seriously)," says Cage, "but the problem is that you have people like Entertainment Weekly who don't want to take the beret off of their head or take the gitane out of their mouth and stop being self-important and pretentious about only the little art films -- which I love too -- but come on and open your minds."

Come on people, don't be closed-minded. Give Ghost Rider a chance. Is that too much to ask?

Ghost Rider opens nationwide Friday, February 16th.

Check out ReelzChannel.com's Ghost Rider page for clips from the movie and more.