Guest Rrviewer Steven Billings

I don’t have to tell you that Spider-man is one of the most exploited comic book characters to date. From the three primary Spider-men played by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, respectively. To all the animated projects and a nostalgic 1977 live action tv series. Even other countries have done their own ripoffs of the character. The character has endured. In 2018, Sony Pictures released Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse, which turned out to be an enormous success not only financially but with critics and fans alike. Its unique animation style and choice to focus on a more modern ideation of character with Miles Morales, proved to be crucial to bringing in not only the comic book fan demographic but also casual viewers who were pining for something new from the character. Along with that, Into the Spider-verse introduced us to a wide array of Spider-men from alternate realities. The one we focus on today is Spider-Noir. This wise-cracking, monochrome version voiced by the enigmatic Nicolas Cage and who is also physically starring as the character in the new live-action series on Amazon Prime. Now, for people going into this, it needs to be known that this is not the exact same version of Spider-Noir from the animated film. In this version, we follow Ben Reilly, known as “The Spider” who is a seasoned private detective and has left his superhero life in the past. But when his cases lead to the existence of other super powered beings, Ben has to grapple with the idea of bringing The Spider back. 

What I love most about this series is its dedication to film noir. Visually, thematically, and from a storytelling perspective. They really paid homage in all the right ways! The superpower stuff even gives us a little 1950s atomic sci-fi flavor. It’s nice seeing a big risk like this from a big studio. They threw money at something where its target audience will probably have no reference point for it. But the great thing about noir is that it lends itself perfectly to comic book storytelling. The crime element that Ben Reilly goes up against in this story is the kingpin Silvermane played by the always great Brendan Gleeson. Gleeson really knows how to chew up the scenery in this one. And like a lot of great actors they also know that sometimes less is more. Gleeson can convey a lot with just a look or very few words. Of course, no classic noir feels right without a femme fatale. Li Jun Li plays Cat Hardy, a nightclub singer and Silvermane’s main girl. Her character made me think of the 1946 noir Gilda. Li has a lot to do here, and I think it is the standout in this cast. She plays hard and cold. Then, the next second is soft and vulnerable. It’s a really great performance. However, our hero is not alone in the story. We get funny and endearing performances from Lamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson and Karen Rodriguez as Janet Ruiz. Robbie is an old friend of Ben’s who is a freelance photo journalist. He spends a lot of the story reminding Ben of the hero he used to be and still is. He is also trying to build his career back up to prominence by pushing to get his job back at the Daily Bugle. Janet is Ben’s secretary but honestly is more of his silent partner as she does more work than any secretary should. And frequently gets caught up in Ben’s case work. She has also worked with Ben for a long time, and her loyalty is definitely tested. Scenes with Ben, Robbie, and Janet together are always fun and lively. 

And yes, I know, I still haven’t said what I thought of Nic Cage as our title character. Well it’s Nic Cage, and he always brings it, so of course, he was awesome! Cage, being the film aficionado that he is, was having the time of his life in this thing. He’s publicly said that his performance is 70% Humphrey Bobart and 30% Bugs Bunny. And I could see it! His voice inflection, how he walked, his posture, all felt very Bogie. But at times when the character needed to be playful or get out of a sticky situation, the bug’s bunny came out. Really fun stuff. Over the top? Yes, but at this point, you should expect that from most Nic Cage performances. It’s become his signature style to tap into something unique with his characters. Even if they might clash with the tone of the entire piece. Here, I think the manic choices really make sense for the character, and over eight episodes really fit in nicely. 

For a second story wise, I thought we were heading towards a Sinister Six story. A Spider-man arc that they’ve tried to make for many years. But they stop a few characters short, but you do get glimpses. The characters we fully get are Flint Marko/Sandman, played by Jack Huston, who reluctantly becomes muscle for Silvermane. Also prominently featured is Tombstone/Lonnie Lincoln, played by Abraham Popoola. Both play these guys well. Their circumstances as forgotten veterans are a rich theme that actually runs through the entire series. 

One of my negatives is how they decided to portray Dirk Leyden, aka Megawatt. Of course, initially, I thought this was Electro, but even after that revelation, I still didn’t quite care for the take. I just found him to be a little one note and really just your typical cliché 1930s New Yorker. The visuals in this series are fantastic. There are a lot of interesting framing choices, and the cinematography is stunning. Going into this, I thought, “this is a noir, so I should watch this in black and white”. So I did, and after three episodes, I got interested in what the color of this world was. After I switched over, I didn’t go back. The color pallet in the series is wonderful. Rich reds and blues. Great texture to all the clothing and set materials. Though the black and white help cover up some things like noticeable CGI, the color is just too eye-popping to miss. 

Overall, I am very pleasantly surprised by this series. This series really puts care into paying homage to a basically forgotten genre to the mainstream public. I am biased by the Nic Cage effect on this project, but I don’t think that we can deny that this is the most interesting Spider-man project since the first Into the Spider-verse. 

Spider-Noir Is Streaming on Amazon Prime 8/8 Reviewed

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 1/2