It’s more noir than spider, but there’s something blissfully charming about Spider-Noir, Amazon Prime’s hardboiled look at the Marvel Comics hero Spider-Man.
If your only touchstone for the character is the live-action movies starring Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire, it’s time to reset expectations. Spider-Noir takes place during the Great Depression, and our web-slinging hero has more in common with Sam Spade than the optimistic and acrobatic youngsters portrayed by the forementioned trio.
We don't even get Spidey’s most-recognized alter ego, Peter Parker, because – in this universe – it’s private detective Ben Reilly who develops the ability to scale walls and shoot webs from his wrists. And Reilly’s superhero foregoes a brash red-and-blue suit in favor of a trench coat, fedora, black mask and goggles. It’s a fun hybridization of hardboiled pessimism and comic flamboyance, and Nicolas Cage is ideal in the leading role.
Cage is known for chewing scenery and too little discernment when choosing projects, but he’s also a generational talent who is captivating when paired with the right material. Spider-Noir is such.
A noir reading of Spider-Man was first delivered in the 2008 Marvel comic book Spider-Man Noir, and fans got another look at the character in the 2018 and 2023 Spider-Verse animated films. Although Cage voiced noir Spider-Man in those pictures, his live-action portrayal is a different character altogether.
Viewers learn in the first episode that Reilly, tortured by an inability to save his lover, has retired from hero life. Those around him frequently reference his beloved alter ego, The Spider, but Reilly spends his days drinking and eking out a living by snapping photos of cheating spouses.
His long-suffering secretary, Janet (Karen Rodriguez), and best friend, Robbie (Lamorne Morris), do their best to get him on track, but Ben is determined to self-destruct. Things change when he’s hired to trail a man possessing supernatural powers, and he digs into a mystery involving a voluptuous femme fatale named Cat (Li Jun Li), a few more super-powered baddies, and the crime boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson).
Because Ben is a reluctant hero, the web-slinging action is subdued, particularly during the first half of the eight-episode series. But creator Oren Uziel and a slew of talented co-writers and directors do a wonderful job capturing the hallmarks of classic noir movies. The series doesn’t top noir favorites like Angels With Dirty Faces, Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon, but it does pay tribute to them, with just enough added quirk to make things unique.
The cast is terrific, with all actors leaning deliciously into noir genre archetypes. Li, Rodriguez, Gleason, and Morris are particularly nice foils for Cage, and the art direction is universally spectacular.
Viewers can – depending on their devices – choose to watch Spider-Noir in either black-and-white or color. The former is recommended, however, there are widely reported difficulties with selecting the black-and-white version on some streaming devices that connect to a television. This is enough of a problem that one wonders what Amazon tech folks were thinking and why they didn’t roll out separate, easily selectable versions. But that’s an Amazon problem, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the show. Even if you are forced to watch in color, it’s an enjoyable experience.
The film and TV market was oversaturated by superhero shows long ago, but Spider-Noir is just unusual enough to merit a watch, and it’s clever enough to make that watch endearing and fun.
Author Bio:
Forrest Hartman is the chief film critic for Highbrow Magazine and a university professor.
For Highbrow Magazine