Review: Spider-Noir, The Series…

Marrying genres has always been a thing in literature. From A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain, which blends time travel and satire, to The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov, a whodunit murder mystery set in a dystopian future, to that scarefest cinematic experience Alien (1979), horror and science fiction, to the quintessential Blade Runner (1982), a blend of cyberpunk and noir, there are many, many examples of shaking up two genres to see what come up. 

This series is just such an example. 

The original Spider Noir was a comic book released in 2008 for Marvel’s Earth-90214. It placed Peter Parker et al. in a similar genesis and plot line as that of the original comic book arc. The Amazon series bearing the same name—but with a hyphen, Spider-Noir (2026), as if that makes all the difference—takes quite the departure. 

The main character, Ben Reilly—played by Nicolas Cage (Face-Off), in a strangely nuanced performance—first appeared in Into the Spider-Verse (2018), another Spidey spin-off with a tenuous yet noticeable link to an original comic book. The setting of this story is 1930s Depression-era New York City, and Reilly is a down-on-his-luck private investigator scraping to get by. 

But Reilly has a secret. Linked to an event in WWI, where he rescues P.O.W.s from a German prison camp, he and the captives undergo changes due to experimentation. Serious genetic changes. His secret, of course, is that he is The Spider, a superhero fighting the big baddies of the time. After the seemingly preventable death of his wife, of which he believes he is wholly responsible, he hangs up his cowl—or is it his mask and goggles?—and carries on as a lowly PI. 

But this would not be a superhero series without a superhero. 

Silvermane, the series’s main villain, played with measured glee by Brendon Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), threatens Reilly’s secretary, Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez, Shining Girls), which convinces Reilly to don the mask again if only to threaten the merciless mob boss. The mobster has two thugs, Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola, Andor), and Flint Marko (Jack Huston, Kill Your Darlings), who are survivors of the aforementioned WWI experiments. Reilly clashes with both of these hoodlums in interesting and dramatic ways. 

So here are your superheroes and supervillains. 

But, in a nod to the title, this series is also film noir; in other words, a hardboiled detective tale. Of course, all of the elements are here, including the detective seeking redemption, the gritty, urban, sometimes nighttime setting, powerful men behind desks, the spunky secretary, and, of course, the femme fatale. Li Jun Li (Sinners) portrays Cat Hardy, a lounge singer and the villain’s primary squeeze, who enlists Reilly for motives she prefers to keep private. Why else would she keep secrets if she were not the classic character archetype?

Lamorne Morris (New Girl) plays Robbie Robertson, a journalist and Reilly’s conscience personified, who lands the story but can’t seem to land a position. He knows of Reilly’s secret identity and constantly urges him to once again don the mask and goggles to do the right thing.  

The performances are spot on. Cage exemplifies the fast-talking, nasally banter of the 1930s while measuring the emotional range necessary for this literary paradigm. Li Jun Li illustrates enough sex appeal and mystery in her portrayal, while Karen Rodriguez adds enough pluck and intellect as His Girl Friday. Jack Huston plays Marko with the right amount of lovesickness and grit, while Abraham Popoola’s Lonnie Lincoln is quite believable in his unexpected redemption arc. 

The plot moves along nicely via its eight episodes, developing characters, and offering twists and turns that make narrative sense. The script, thankfully, does not insult the intellect of its viewers. The production does a swell job of transporting us to a time that is speculative and authentic at the same time. 

It is too early to learn what is to become of this series—either the axe or the green flag—while Cage has not yet shared his intentions with the series future. But it looks good so far. I like this series, and I want it to continue.