Before diving into my thoughts on Spider-Noir, wanted to give some love to creative team behind Spider-Man Noir. The credits have it listed as “Based on the character from Marvel Comics” however the character wouldn’t exist without writers David Hine and Fabrice Sapolsky, and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico. Fabrice is doing some amazing things with FairSquare Graphics, that I highly recommend checking out. Di Giandomenico is currently on the ongoing series Deathstroke: The Terminator. While Hine has been a prolific writer for years.

Alright now that love has been given to those that really deserve it. Let’s discuss the first series that Nicolas Cage has ever starred in. Cage is back as the dark and noir drenched Spider-Man from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse but things are different. In the Spider-Verse films, Cage voices Peter Parker whose world is black and white but in Spider-Noir, he is Ben Reilly. At first, I was a little hesitant about this change as it was a change from the source material and the character that we fell in love with in the film. Also for comic fans, the change to Ben Reilly brings back memories of the Clone Saga. Some people love Ben and others cannot stand Ben. Luckily Cage is able to perform a balancing act between a drunk depressed PI and a cartoon character once he puts the mask on. Which makes for a unforgettable experience.

The whole season of Spider-Noir was dropped on Amazon Prime and MGM+ (which I seriously don’t know anyone that has MGM+) on May 27th. It had the rare option between two different viewing experiences, “Authentic Black & White” or “True-Hue Full Color”. Without hesitation, we watched the whole season in black and white, which I feel like is the true way to watch this series. Despite the difference from the comics, this did capture the feel of the comic series. Spider-Noir is 8 episodes with the average runtime of 45 minutes. Its the perfect set up for a nerdy weekend binge.

Spider-Noir is about Ben Reilly escaping “The Spider”, he retired his vigilante persona and has been working as a Private Investigator for the last five years. With the great depression happening, Ben and his assistant Janet (played by Karen Rodriguez) have not been getting paid and Ben has become an alcoholic. But when gangster Silvermane (played by Brendan Gleeson) starts to form a team of superpowered individuals, Ben is forced back into action as The Spider. Through this, Ben meets the nightclub singer Cat Hardy (played by Li Jun Li), battles the likes of Flint Marko/ The Sandman (Jack Huston), Lonnie Lincoln/ Tombstone (Abraham Popoola) and my least favorite character of the series Dirk Leyden/Megawatts (Andrew Lewis Caldwell). The story does allow for a glimpse of a origin story. This gives Nicolas Cage the opportunity to go crazy with how Ben became The Spider.

This is one of those examples of not being true to source material helps the show. Spider-Noir feels different from anything else we have seen in the comic book genre in a while. This is due to the cinematography, the dialogue of the time and just throwing a superhero into the 1930s. Its a show that doesn’t try to be something its not, it knows what it wants to be and leans into it. The script leaned heavily into speech pattern and dress of the 1930s. Even though Nicolas Cage is 62, his line delivery and overall performance fit Ben Reilly/The Spider so well, honestly I cannot see or hear another person playing the character. Also shoutout to a strong performance by Lamorne Morrie as Robbie Robertson, some of the most powerful or meaningful scenes were due to him. My knowledge of his work starts and ends with New Girl, so it was nice to see him in a role that went beyond being the comedic relief. Even though he ended up being the comedic relief in a few scenes as well.

There is a scene that Cage is seriously watching James Cagney in the movie theater and expresses how he had to relearn how to talk by watching movies. This was a interesting part that I wished the show spent more time exploring. By exploring the side effects of the bite and how Ben had to relearn how to be human with power, it would have given us more unhinged Cage. Spider-Noir is not perfect but it didn’t have to be, it was a blast to see Nicolas Cage be a version of Spider-Man and a great way to spend the weekend.

There is no wrong way of watching this but its truly special watching it in black & white.