Nicholas Cage stars in Prime Video’s new Spider-Man spin-off show, Spider-Noir. Photo: Prime Video.
If you’re a fan of superhero content, you’ve probably heard of the multiverse.
In theory, it’s supposed to be a way to tell stories of different versions of popular characters without affecting the status quo of the original hero or timeline.
Perhaps the most popular example is 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw all three live-action Spider-Men from the past 25 years, Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, all in the same movie without ruining or retconning their previous movies.
The issue with the multiverse now is that it has become a means for movies to cram in half-baked cameos or fanfare with little or no substance behind them.
However, the best use of the multiverse, in my opinion, is the animated Spider-Verse movies, which introduced hundreds of variations of Spider-Man, including Spider-Noir, a 1930s private investigator with powers, played by Nicholas Cage.
The character and concept were so popular that Amazon launched its own Spider-Man show based on this version and it is freaking awesome!
Spider-Noir follows Ben Reilly (our Peter Parker stand-in), who retired from being The Spider for several years following a personal tragedy. However, after being hired for a case with exceptional circumstances, he is forced to reemerge as the superhero he once was.
This show is unlike anything else I’ve seen in the superhero genre.
For starters, it can be viewed in two different ways – black and white or Technicolour. This demonstrated to me from the get-go that the creators of the series have dived completely into the concept and aren’t pulling any punches when it comes to delivering a stylised, noir and pulpy experience. FYI, black and white is the better viewing experience.
The show takes the characters you know and love from the original Spider-Man mythos and puts them in a Great Depression era, gangster-style setting. The best part is, the concept is so fully realised that, unlike a two-hour movie, it doesn’t feel like a gimmick.
The story and mystery here is also a lot of fun. It’s not profound or super sophisticated like other noir films, such as Chinatown, but it does serve the purpose of the show and creates fun dynamics for its characters.
Nicholas Cage excels in this setting. He was fun in the animated movie where this character debuted, but now in a live-action, expanded take, his frantic energy and larger-than-life mannerisms that make him so divisive actually help him in the portrayal of this weird character.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller (directors of the Spider-Verse movies and Project Hail Mary) are executive producers on this show and their style has clearly rubbed off on the creative team.
Every shot feels and looks like a poster or in this case, a comic book.
It means that even if you aren’t enjoying the plot or are struggling to follow along, you can at the very least enjoy what you are looking at.
The other risk Amazon took was releasing all eight episodes at once. Personally, I believe this to be a fantastic move. It allows you to completely dive into this world without being pulled out for the six days between episodes.
The show won’t be for everyone. As with most noir-inspired content, there is a level of camp that can sometimes be too on the nose and there is quite a bit of body horror. With that said, it is a story about a PI who can shoot webs, so take that as you will.
Ultimately, there is so much fun to be had here and if this is the quality that these multiverse shows are going to be, there is potential for more genre-bending explorations to be had with some of pop culture’s most popular heroes.
All eight episodes of Spider-Noir are now streaming on Prime Video.
