From Spider-man to ‘Spider-Noir’
Next week, Amazon Prime launches a new series, “Spider-Noir”—a spin-off of the massively successful “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” film by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The eight-episode series stars Nicholas Cage, who is reprising his role as Ben Reilly as Spider-Noir from “Into the Spider-Verse.”
The first three episodes of the show already promise cinematic storytelling and can be watched in two versions: black and white, and a colored version, which is done “super saturated” and called “True Hue,” in a bid to imagine what a 1930s comic book would look like.
Missing in action
Set in an alternate universe, 1930s New York is plagued by a crime boss, and the city’s superhero, The Spider, has been missing in action for several years. After a tragic accident involving someone very close to him, The Spider, whose real name is Ben Reilly, has given up saving the day and has returned to work as a private detective.
Following the noir style, Reilly becomes involved in a case that involves other superhumans and puts him within the crosshairs of the crime boss, Silvermane. But will he return to being The Spider? Or will his jadedness get the better of him?
Cage is brilliant in this, balancing the multiple tones of the film—one part noir, one part superhero, one part journey through a man’s existential crisis of his identity and purpose—and plays it with a levity that makes it enjoyable but without sacrificing any of his character’s bleak outlook in life.
This balance of tone was very important to showrunner Oren Uziel, whom I was lucky to have a chance to discuss along with other journalists on his first foray into serial narrative storytelling (he has written “22 Jump Street,” “The Cloverfield Paradox,” and “The Lost City”).
Setting the tone
“Nicholas Cage was instrumental,” Uziel says. He couldn’t imagine anyone else doing the role after the actor’s unforgettable performance in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” and worked well with Uziel’s plan of aging the character to fit the noir tone better.
“We were always going to make a show that wasn’t going to take itself too seriously,” he adds, citing Humphrey Bogart’s performance in “The Big Sleep.” “Bogart knows how to have fun there.”
He references a lot of noir films like “The Big Sleep,” “Double Indemnity,” and “The Maltese Falcon,” and talks about how he and Cage worked hard every day to try to get the tone right. He says they were “making a Bogart film, where Bogart just happens to be Spider-Man.”
Being good friends with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, he recalls how they have always talked about working together. He got to see them working on the Spider-Verse movies, as well as the producer of those films, Amy Pascal, and they constantly discussed how he could get involved.
Uziel talks about how he “loves Spider-Man” and how he thinks “he’s the most relatable of all the superheroes.” It was talking about the different possible projects he could work on when “Spider-Noir” came up. “It was the best fit” because of his love of the genre.
Superhero, but make it noir
“Anytime you are making a movie or a television show,” he explains, “as a writer, you are infusing a lot of your lived experiences in the project.” He immediately asked Lord and Miller if he could age the character a bit. “I’m not a high school kid anymore,” he shares. “The issues that a high school kid faces are not the same issues I’m facing.”
Uziel relates his own experiences in the industry and strikes a comparison with those of Ben Reilly. When he first got into the business, he felt “like a superhero” and had all this energy, but he faced a few roadblocks, and he had to pick himself back up again and continue because, he says, “it’s what I love doing.”
This is directly related to the first two episodes of the series, where we are introduced to the character of Reilly, who has long given up his mantle as The Spider. He tries to make a decent living as a private detective, but he is not quite making bank.
The show creates an interesting interplay between Depression Era New York, with the fancy nightclubs and hotels, where Reilly’s work takes him to the slums and alleyways, and where people who are struggling from the weight of the economic downturn are in full display. While the show doesn’t make use of narration—a familiar trope within the genre—the themes and characters of noir are very evident within the show.
Uziel says you don’t have to be a fan of comic book movies to enjoy “Spider-Noir” if you are a fan of the genre. All of the elements are there. It also works in reverse. It’s far removed from the MCU and the superhero movies before it, so it’s a standalone show that you can enjoy.
And he hopes that people will become curious about the genre. I got to see the show and prefer the black and white version myself, as it fits the mood and vibe of the show’s jaded and almost nihilistic tone.
A modern take on the genre
The performances are great. Brendan Gleeson is always an arresting watch, and he does wonders with Silvermane—but the ones to watch out for (other than Nicholas Cage) are Karen Rodriguez as Reilly’s secretary, Janet, and Li Jun Li as Cat Hardy, a nightclub singer who hires Reilly to find her missing bodyguard.
Women are usually just victims and damsels in distress in classic noir films, but this is a modern-day take on the genre, and Rodriguez and Li can shine, acting opposite Cage.
There are a lot of practical effects and sets, with the green screen only being used to create the backdrop of 1930s New York more believable. It’s a gorgeous production that is both fun, light, and enjoyable, but is also unafraid to lean into the existential dread and the moral decay that are usually explored by the genre.
The first three episodes have enough superheroics to still feel like a superhero film, but it’s mostly a character-driven work with the narrative structure and tone of a noir film. It’s different and refreshing and new.
And I’m excited to see how the rest of the series will unfold.
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