‘Spider-Noir’ Review – Nicolas Cage is Delightfully Unhinged in Prime Video’s Pulpy Marvel Series

When Nicolas Cage first voiced the character of Spider-Man Noir in 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, it felt like pitch-perfect casting. The 62-year-old actor channeled his inner Humphrey Bogart for a vocal performance that was so good it warranted its own live-action spin-off series. Fast forward to 2026, and we now have Spider-Noir, executive produced by Spider-Verse architects and Project Hail Mary directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and developed by Oren Uziel. Naturally, Cage reprises the role, swinging around in 1930s New York in the middle of the great depression. If you have any doubts about whether an entire show about this iteration of the wall-crawler can work, cast them aside now because Spider-Noir is genuinely fantastic.

Unabashedly pulpy and oozing with style, these eight episodes of television seek to marry the mythos of a costumed hero as iconic as Spider-Man with the tragic and cynical undertones of the noir film genre. What if the “Private Eye,” who is often pulled in different directions of corruption, romance, and violence in many of these iconic noir stories, also happened to have spider powers? If there were any superhero whose moral code and personal struggles fit into the noir genre, it’s Spider-Man. The best part is that Cage and the rest of the team not only thrive within the genre’s constructs but also stay true to what makes Spider-Man such a beloved hero in the first place.

‘Spider-Noir’ Isn’t a Typical Superhero Story

Spider-Noir season 1 focuses on private investigator Ben Reilly (Cage), who is hired to follow Felicia “Cat” Hardy (Li Jun Li). This simple job soon turns into a complicated web of criminal conspiracy, as a power struggle between crime boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson) and the Mayor of New York  (Michael Krostoff) threatens to unravel New York into chaos. With new superpowered beings popping up, Ben is forced to put the mask back on and fight crime with both his fists and intellect after retiring five years earlier. The Prime Video original series takes its time to become a fully-fledged Spider-Man story, and it works better for it. 

Much of the early episodes focus on Ben as a troubled detective, reluctantly being called back to the identity of “The Spider” (what this universe calls Spider-Man). All the hallmarks of the wall-crawling hero are here: burdens of responsibility, streaks of bad luck, and plenty of self-inflicted guilt. Thankfully, the show isn’t weighed down by the gloom that comes with the noir genre. Nicolas Cage (Longlegs, The Surfer) leans fully into his eccentricities as a performer, bringing a tonal balance that is reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. This is in no small part thanks to the supporting cast, which surprisingly manages to keep up with Cage and even, on occasion, steal scenes from him.

The Supporting Cast Holds Up Its End of the Bargain

Lamorne Morris (New Girl) as Daily Bugle reporter Robbie Robertson and Karen Rodriguez (Swarm) as Ben’s PI assistant Janet are key supporting characters in Spider-Noir. Moreover, the two are some of the more compelling aides to Spider-Man in recent memory. Rather than merely witnessing everything happen to Ben, Robbie and Janet play active roles in the investigation and oftentimes make discoveries of their own. Morris is undoubtedly a highlight here, balancing humor and excellent Nicolas Cage impressions with heart and sincerity. Additionally, the show uses its ’30s backdrop to address racism and segregation from Robertson’s viewpoint, and Morris unsurprisingly doesn’t disappoint playing this hefty material. 

While there is a buildup toward Ben becoming The Spider again, the show isn’t afraid to completely utilize Spider-Man’s powerset. The bombastic action scenes and spectacle on display don’t detract from the noir underpinnings; they are just enough to provide ample entertainment and justify the Amazon series as a comic-book adaptation. Plus, Spider-Noir gets to showcase alternate versions of multiple villains from Spidey’s rogues gallery, such as The Sandman (Jack Huston), Tombstone (Abraham Popoola), and Megawatt (Andrew Lewis Caldwell). Each foe fits the noir archetype perfectly, some in sympathetic ways (like Sandman) and others in a deeply sadistic fashion (like Megawatt and Silvermane)

The Impeccable Production Design Is Loyal to the Noir Genre

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) thrives as Silvermane, a crime boss desperately clinging to whatever power and influence he has left in the city. His interactions with the likes of Ben often deliver the most tension in the story. His ruthlessness stands in stark contrast to the sympathetic rogues’ gallery that soon becomes his muscle; Spider-Noir excels at creating a multi-dimensional world that isn’t as black-and-white as Darran Tiernan’s (The Penguin) cinematography. Speaking of, there are two ways to experience the Amazon show: “True Hue Full Color” and “Authentic Black and White.” Both formats have their own advantages, though this review was written primarily with the black-and-white version in mind.

Kris Bowers (The Wild Robot, Bridgerton) and Michael Dean Parsons’ score for Spider-Noir is equally impressive, with a jazzy opening theme and a couple of musical numbers that enhance the show’s atmosphere. A club that Silvermane owns often serves as the backdrop for many confrontations in the season, making the music an essential part of the narrative’s tone. Spider-Noir‘s cinematography makes excellent use of shadows in traditional noir fashion, even in color. Stylistically and thematically, Prime Video’s series is a beautiful homage to the Noir genre.

‘Spider-Noir’ Stands Out in an Oversaturated Superhero Landscape 

Spider-Noir boasts incredible practical production design, cleverly scaling down in a way that’s barely noticeable. Clubs, warehouses, and the streets of 1930s New York are carefully designed to make the scale feel big and the city lived-in. The style of the action is reminiscent of the fisticuffs seen in classic noir films while simultaneously incorporating Spider-Man’s fantastical powers. Finally, there’s how Nicolas Cage differentiates his physicality and line-delivery as The Spider. With highly manic energy and a deeper voice, Cage is just so much fun to watch as the titular web-slinger. Whether he’s taking a beating or handing one out, Ben gleefully leans into the more spider-like qualities that no other iteration of the hero has done before.

The filmic style of Spider-Noir helps strengthen its narrative, especially in regard to Cage’s chemistry with Li Jun Li (Sinners, Babylon). Cat Hardy and Ben’s back-and-forth rapport as the deadly femme fatale and grizzled private detective is filled with all the zingers expected from movies released over 70 years ago. The writing team, led by showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot (The Punisher, Hannibal), has cleverly crafted a season of TV that is overflowing with love for the noir genre. Take the “tragic victim” subplot of Jack Huston’s Sandman and Ben’s duplicitous relationship with Hardy, for example. These elements further push Spider-Noir into a binge-worthy watch.

Throughout all eight episodes of this first season, Spider-Noir somehow manages to tell both a quintessential Spider-Man story and a thrilling detective mystery. Although this is Nicolas Cage’s first full-length television series, the veteran actor does a phenomenal job carrying the season with his trademark strangeness in a comic-book show that is refreshingly fun.

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

‘Spider-Noir’ premieres May 27 on Prime Video!