Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav My hopes were high for the new Prime Video superhero series Spider-Noir, based on all those amazing trailers. But I also had some trepidation. Could the actual series live up to the hype?
As it turns out, yes, it could. Spider-Noir is a triumph, fusing fast-paced storytelling, compelling characters, gorgeous cinematography and production design, and whip-smart dialogue into a hugely entertaining, loving homage to a magical bygone era.
(Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)
Marvel Comics created its “noir” line in 2009, reinterpreting familiar Marvel characters in an alternate universe, usually set during the Great Depression in the US. A version of the Spider-Noir character, voiced by Nicolas Cage, briefly appeared in the animated masterpieces, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Across the Spider-Verse (2023). (He is set to reprise that role in the upcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse.) Cage’s portrayal was so compelling that we now have an entire series built around it.
Co-showrunner (with Steve Lightfoot) Oren Uziel is a film noir fan, so that Marvel series naturally appealed to him. The live-action series is still set in 1930s Depression-era New York, but the spidery superhero is not Peter Parker. Uziel thought the Parker character was too closely associated with a boyish high school type, which didn’t really fit the noir vibe. So Cage is playing Ben Reilly, a hard-boiled PI with a secret superhero identity, The Spider.
Ben Reilly has retired his vigilante persona after losing his fiancée, Ruby, five years earlier. Embittered, jaded, and drinking heavily, he’s barely eking out a living with his PI business, aided by his spirited secretary Janet (Karen Rodriguez). And he dismisses his reporter buddy Robbie’s (Lamorne Morris) urging to revive The Spider. Granted, this would help revive Robbie’s flagging career, but with The Spider gone, ruthless Irish mob boss Finn Byrne, aka Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson), pretty much has a chokehold on New York City—not just the bootlegging business, but the media, politicians, and business owners.
Nicolas Cage channeling Humphrey Bogart as Ben Reilly, PI—aka The Spider. Prime Video Ben in full Spider mode. Prime Video Ben in full Spider mode. Prime Video Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the linchpin of Ben’s business. Prime Video Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the linchpin of Ben’s business. Prime Video Ben in full Spider mode. Prime Video Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the linchpin of Ben’s business. Prime Video Best buddy Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris) is angling to get his Daily Bugle job back. Sultry nightclub singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li) is a dangerous distraction. Prime Video Brendan Gleeson plays mob boss Finn Byrne, aka Silvermane. Lukas Haas plays Winston, Silvermane’s right hand man. Flint Marko (Jack Huston) and Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) have genetic mutations that give them special powers but are also killing them. Flint is less friendly toward another doomed supervillain, Dirk Leyden (Andrew Lewis Caldwell), who calls himself Megawatt. Circumstances conspire to thrust Ben back into the action. He’s hired to track down a criminal named Addison (Jack Mikesell), who turns out to have pyrokinetic superpowers. And Addison is not the only one. Silvermane’s bodyguard, Flint Marko (Jack Huston), is slowly turning into Sandman, while his buddy Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) is becoming Tombstone. Then there’s the egomaniacal Leyden, who dubs himself Megawatt because he can absorb and release electricity.
The catch: Those superpowers are slowly killing them. Faced with a sharply truncated lifespan, Sandman, Tombstone, and Megawatt find themselves recruited by Silvermane to shore up the mobster’s political clout by terrorizing the city. Only The Spider can challenge them—if Ben can be cajoled into picking up the mantle once again. Add in a romantic distraction in the comely form of sultry lounge singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), and all the requisite elements of classic noir are in place.
Cage anchors the series; the role suits the actor’s distinctively flamboyant style, and his performance is extraordinary. The actor has described his portrayal as “70 percent Humphrey Bogart and 30 percent Bugs Bunny.” Cage never lapses into slavish imitation, and he reserves the Bugs-like hamminess for when it suits the plot, such as when Ben gains access to restricted areas by pretending to be a handyman, a mental patient, and so forth.
Cage also said that he viewed Ben as “a spider trying to cosplay as a human” rather than a human with spider-like attributes, and he choreographs his physical movements accordingly, drawing on his many years of tai chi. This is especially relevant in later episodes as Ben’s backstory is revealed, and he receives the infamous bite that gives him superpowers. Ben’s human body in transformation twitches and jerks as he tries to control his movements and suppress his inner Spider. He confesses to Cat that he had to learn how to behave like a human again—but The Spider is nonetheless always there.
Cat Hardy in the black-and-white version versus…. Prime Video Cat Hardy in the True Hue version. Prime Video Cat Hardy in the True Hue version. Prime Video Cat Hardy in the black-and-white version versus…. Prime Video Cat Hardy in the True Hue version. Prime Video The supporting cast is just as strong. Gleeson is positively magnetic when he’s on screen, making Silvermane tough and menacing but also funny and even vulnerable. Rodriguez drew on the character of Sam Spade’s secretary, Effie (Lee Patrick), in The Maltese Falcon for her portrayal of the capable, loyal-yet-steely Janet, while Li Jun Li found inspiration in Gilda-era Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, and Kim Basinger in LA Confidential for Cat.
Morris’s Robbie impersonating The Spider in a crucial scene is hilariously on point. Another standout: Andrew Lewis Caldwell’s portrayal of Leyden/Megawatt, a frustrated actor with a penchant for spouting Shakespeare as he zaps away. The character could have just been a campy caricature in lesser hands. And yes, that’s Lukas Haas, who played the little Amish boy in 1985’s Witness, as Silvermane’s menacing henchman Winston.
You can watch Spider-Noir in black and white or color—and it’s not just a clever marketing gimmick. The footage was shot digitally and processed separately rather than being shot in one format and then converted to the other, so both versions look fantastic. Each version also subtly alters the overall tone and texture of the series. The black-and-white version beautifully evokes Old Hollywood noir films from the 1940s. The team coined the term “True Hue” for the color format, since the intent was to create something supersaturated, akin to classic Technicolor. Cage has compared the feel to the 1944 Edward Hopper painting Nighthawks, but it also has a vintage comic-strip quality that perfectly suits the show’s origins.
I give the black-and-white version the edge, although it doesn’t do justice to Cat’s lustrous evening gowns. Your mileage may vary. However, the brilliant opening credits are entirely in black and white regardless of which version you watch. Artistically, it was the right choice, especially when paired with a killer original tune penned specifically for the series: “Saving Grace,” featuring Kirby.
Why does Spider-Noir succeed when so many other superhero spinoff series have been disappointing? Perhaps it’s because there was no pressure to fit the series into a bigger multiverse story arc. Executive Producer Chris Miller has said there was no intention to create a “giant web of interconnected series,” Miller added. “It’s just its own little jewel of a story.” There’s no word yet on whether Spider-Noir will get a second season, but I would be keen to see a shiny new standalone story for our reluctant hero. There’s nothing wrong with “one and done,” though, when that one season is pretty much flawless.
Spider-Noir is now streaming on Prime Video, in both black and white and True Hue.
