Happy Saturday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another reaction/review of a Marvel-themed television show. A live-action show of Spider-Man Noir wouldn’t have made my Bingo card for 2026, but I’m glad Spider-Noir exists. I had little to no expectations going into this show. Full disclosure: I’ve never read the Spider-Man Noir comic book series, and I only watched Spider-Noir one and a half times before writing this reaction (it’s more of a reaction than a review) because I don’t have an ad-free Amazon Video Account. Pay walls. Yay! I enjoyed my time with Spider-Noir. If I had an ad-free option for this show, I would’ve watched it another time or two. It held my interest. We have another caveat to discuss before getting into Geekly’s Reaction/Review of Spider-Noir.
Ben Reilly instead of Peter Parker
You may have noticed that Spider-Noir is Spider-Man Noir in the comic books. That’s a name change. The title character refers to himself as The Spider, and so does every other character, but that isn’t the only name change. Canonically, Spider-Man Noir is an alternate reality version of Peter Parker. Spider-Man Noir is even Peter Parker in the Spider-Verse Series of films. Spider-Noir refers to its lead as Ben Reilly. Ben Reilly does come from the comics. He’s the Peter Parker clone during the Clone Saga. But why did Spider-Noir change its main character’s name?
I don’t know for sure. Several factors could weigh into Spider-Noir changing Spider-Man Noir’s character name from Peter Parker to Ben Reilly. The leading cause could be Spider-Noir’s darker tone (Spider-Noir kills others and uses a gun) and Ben Reilly’s use of alcohol and smoking. Marvel and Sony (with its Spider-Verse movies) may want to retain Peter Parker’s clean image. Spider-Noir can get really dark. And only a lawyer could understand the deal between Marvel and Sony with Spider-Man. I’m not even going to try to unpack all that legalese. I just needed to draw your attention to Spider-Man Noir’s multiple name changes.
Authentic Black and White Versus True-Hue Color
Spider-Noir offered two viewing experiences: authentic black and white, and true-hue color. I chose to watch Spider-Noir in authentic black and white, but my device has an option–and many smart devices have this option–to switch between the two versions. I accidentally clicked on “Switch Versions,” and True-Hue Color looked great from what I saw. But I have to be upfront about which version I watched.
Wow! Spider-Noir really is a different kind of television show. So many exceptions.
Accents
The accents in Spider-Noir can get difficult to decipher. Silvermane’s accent is over-the-top in the best possible way. I’m glad I had subtitles on while I watched, but kudos for the commitment to Silverman’s Irish brogue. Nicolas Cage’s accent often came and went. Typically, I enjoyed Cage’s performance, but his accent could get distracting. I couldn’t place Cage’s accent.
The majority of Spider-Noir’s cast does a good job of approximating 1930’s American speech. I’d even say Cage does a good job, but he goes a little over the top in classic Nicolas Cage fashion. We’ll get to Cage’s performance in a minute, but I enjoyed him as Ben Reilly.
Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly/The Spider
Nicolas Cage gave his best ham-tastic performance with Ben Reilly and The Spider, and it was hilarious hearing Lamorne Morris (more on him in a minute) do his best Cage as The Spider impersonation. Cage is having fun. His brand of overacting worked so well with this character. From his lying down like a dead spider to his odd accent, Nicolas Cage gave his all in this performance. It was equal parts hardboiled detective and Universal Monster movie. I can’t wait to see more of Spider-Noir. I don’t care what the form a new Cage performance takes: video game, animated movie or show, or another season of Spider-Noir. Like Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man or Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Nicolas Cage was born to play this role.
Lamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson
Since his appearance on a beer commercial where he complimented his girlfriend on her teef, I’ve always been a Lamorne Morris fan. The man has charisma. He’s a great fit for Robbie. His chemistry with Nicholas Cage and the rest of Spider-Noir’s cast is fantastic. Heck, the entire cast has great chemistry. In other Spider-Man properties, Robbie tends to get overlooked. He takes center stage in Spider-Noir. Excellent.
Robbie needs to be featured in more Spider-Man movies and shows. And I’ll always take more Lamorne Morris.
The Rest of the Cast
Li Jun Li’s Cat Hardy shares some fantastic banter with Nicolas Cage’s Ben Reilly, but she does a great job with her love interest, Flint Marko, played by Jack Huston. Huston also nails his 30s speech. The entire cast does. Brendan Gleeson makes for a fabulous Silvermane. He’s the kind of guy you love to hate. Abraham Popoola’s Lonnie Lincoln shares some heartfelt moments with Robbie Robertson. I even liked to hate Andrew Lewis Caldwell’s Dirk Leyden. Oh. And Amy Aquino (Dr. Faber) and Andrew Robinson (Ogden Faber) share some excellent scenes with Nicolas Cage and Silvermane with his goons. Oh! Oh! Karen Rodriguez made a sensational secretary/investigator, Janet Ruiz. Ruiz has some of the funniest moments.
I enjoyed almost every minute of Spider-Noir; the commercials were my main gripe. I’m not paying to go ad-free, Amazon.
The Writing
Sure, Spider-Noir plays out pretty much as I expected, but that isn’t always a bad thing. The show follows tropes. At times, it subverts them, but this may be a function of Spider-Noir’s status as a superhero story. When you genre blend and find ways to honor each inspiration, you’ll end up with some tropes, but hopefully, done in a manner that has yet to be seen. Spider-Noir knew what it wanted to build toward and did it. It was a hardboiled detective/superhero mini-series with a dollop of gory monsters. More, please.
Should There Be a Second Season
I know I just asked for more Spider-Noir. I said that on more than one occasion, but I kind of like that it remains a mini series. The cast is fabulous, and the writing is well-done. I wouldn’t say no to another season of Spider-Noir, but the story also wrapped up neatly. Are there any more huge stories to tell? Maybe. I didn’t expect Spider-Noir on the 2026 schedule. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I don’t expect another season. Does that mean that we will see another season?
Those are my thoughts on Spider-Noir. I may rewatch the series in True-Hue to see which version I prefer. I’ve heard this is a hot-button topic. Which version do you like? Let us know in the comments. And let us know if you’d like to see another season of Spider-Noir. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
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