spider-noir

Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, and today, our writers share what they’ve been watching over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been watching, too, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. I’ll get things started with what I’ve been watching over the past month.

Kyra’s Movies

I finally got around to watching Fahrenheit 451 (2018). It’s been some time since I read the Bradbury novel (of the same name), but I could tell HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 took a lot of liberties. Updates, if you will. I don’t believe the eye drops and augmented reality social media were part of the original. I’m okay with the additions, but it did bother me that Fahrenheit 451 didn’t elaborate on what happens to people after they got booted from augmented reality social media.

I may have missed something. I got that erasing someone’s data (from their fingertips) severed them from the rest of humanity (through the augmented reality social media or ARSM), but I couldn’t see why that was a bad thing. Did people get food through the ARSM? Did the ARSM pay them? Fahrenheit 451’s world-building was a little shaky. But the acting was stellar. Michael Shannon and Michael B. Jordan–hey, two Michaels–gave brilliant performances. They did so well in the roles that they made me forget all those pesky world questions.

Fahrenheit 451 clocks in at just over an hour and a half. I appreciate the shorter runtime. Too many films insist on more than two hours. The short runtime and the performance of the Michaels make Fahrenheit 451 a fun watch. I’d still recommend reading the original novel. It’s a short read. Heck, I may reread it so I can see all the liberties the movie took.

Crazy Rich Asians was another random movie I watched this past month. Typically, I don’t watch romantic comedies; I read them. And Crazy Rich Asians was first a novel. I may need to pick up Kevin Kwan’s novel and add it to my never-ending to be read pile. Actors make acting choices, and actors in romantic comedies can make some poor choices–or they can’t act. That’s why I tend to read romantic comedies. Let me fill in the blanks for myself. Case in point, the romantic lead in Crazy Rich Asians is not the best actor, and one or two actors make some questionable choices.

Of course, Michelle Yeoh was amazing. The look she and the romantic woman lead’s mother share is perfect. Years were conveyed in a thirty-second stare. Awkwafina was in rare form. I don’t tend to like her in most movies; she’s funny in Crazy Rich Asians. Ken Jeong is the perfect choice to play Awkwafina’s father. I love most of that family. I could do with a little less of Awkwafina’s creepy little brother. Stand-up comedians Jimmy O. Yang and Ronny Chieng partially round out this massive cast. I love Yang and Chieng’s stand-up routines, and they don’t disappoint.

I didn’t expect to like Crazy Rich Asians as much as I did. The movie showcases Singapore, another city just made my bucket list. The set pieces look phenomenal. Constance Wu (the romantic woman lead) did a stellar job, as did most of the cast. But the romantic man lead torpedoed some of his scenes. I didn’t care for the ending because he was deeply unlikable. And I wanted to see a happily ever after. Who doesn’t in a rom-com? Still, I recommend Crazy Rich Asians. Just try to block the male lead from your mind.

Kyra’s Shows

If you’ve been following Geekly for a while, you’ll know I’m a sucker for true crime. Netflix’s Should I Marry a Murderer? stands out from many of the streaming giant’s other offerings: empathy. Should I Marry a Murderer? presents its subject, Caroline Muirhead, in a way that we see why she makes certain choices. She fell in love with a man who turned out to be a murderer. She doesn’t cooperate with the police and makes some questionable decisions. Muirhead admits that her choices may not have been great, but they did have internal logic.

If you’re ever wondering “why did X stay or return,” you may want to give Should I Marry a Murderer? a watch. Muirhead explains her position well. She gets the viewer on her side, and just when that happens, the documentary throws in one of the authorities who call her foolish or state they would’ve helped her. Only, we see how the authorities didn’t help. Should I Marry a Murderer? shows how a police department can fail a witness. This is a cautionary tale. It may even give you pause with judging others because we don’t know what led them to make their decisions.

Originally, I watched Should I Marry a Murderer? while working on a project (a board game design), but I rewatched the show, giving it more attention on the subsequent view. Few shows like this offer empathy. I found myself agreeing with a witness who refused to immediately go to the police. Should I Marry a Murderer? reminds us that we live in a world of gray.

I also watched the recently released Spider-Noir. I won’t go into too much detail. Geekly has a full review of the series. In short, Spider-Noir is better than it has any right to be. I didn’t anticipate Spider-Noir, but that works in its favor. The biggest debate I’ve seen about Spider-Noir is which version is best, Authentic Black & White or True Hue (color), and after I reviewed the show, Marvel released its definitive way to experience the series. You split the two versions.

Marvel suggests watching episodes 1-3 in Black & White, Episodes 4 and 5 in True Hue, Episode 6 in Black & White, and Episodes 7 and 8 in True Hue. Essentially, Marvel says the first three episodes should be in Black & White because Ben Reilly isn’t in the best headspace, stuck in the past. Episodes 4, 5, 7, and 8 are more Reilly’s present (color), while Episode 6 is a flashback (so, Black & White). It’s an interesting concept. I may just try out this method of watching Spider-Noir. No matter how you watch the show, it’s fun.

That’s all I have for what I’ve been watching this past month. Let’s check in with Season.

Season’s Show

I’ve been feeling anime recently, and My Roommate Is a Cat stood out to me on Crunchyroll. I have two cats, so that’s part of the reason. Tee hee! Anyway, My Roommate Is a Cat isn’t something I normally watch. I tend to watch action/adventure or romance, not slice of life, which is the category My Roommate Is a Cat falls under.

My Roommate Is a Cat follows Subaru Mikazuki, a twenty-three-year-old introvert novelist who sucks at dealing with people. He’s also kind of a jerk to the few people who are close to him. He feeds a stray cat (whom he later names “Haru”) and takes her in. Subaru studies Haru’s behavior for a novel he’s writing, learning how she shows affection for him and bettering himself in the process. The show features both Subaru’s perspective for most of each episode and Haru’s for the last five-ish minutes of each episode. Haru’s perspective is goofy since she doesn’t understand why her dumb human won’t feed himself. She has to do everything.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. That’s all our writers have for what they’ve been watching this past month. Let us know what you’ve been watching, Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

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.

Tag: spider-noir

Whatcha Watching, Geekly? June 2026