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.
Characters matter
Prime Video
Nicolas Cage channeling Humphrey Bogart as Ben Reilly, PI—aka The Spider.
Prime Video
Prime Video
Ben in full Spider mode.
Prime Video
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.
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.
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