5 Reasons Why Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir Is Worth Watching

If there's anyone who can save the day, it's Nicolas Cage. Well, he's certainly had a go at it enough times already. In the pantheon of comic book adaptations, the Oscar-winner and screen legend has taken on the roles of Ghost Rider, Big Daddy in "Kick-Ass," and, depending on what universe you exist in, a brief stint as a long-haired Superman. In fact, it's thanks to alternate realities that Cage is coming out swinging yet again, this time in Prime Video's new show "Spider-Noir," which gives us a brand new wall-crawler from a golden era. But is it worth a look?

Firstly, here's the rub, bub. Cage plays Ben Reilly, a private investigator in 1930s New York and former web-slinging savior of the city known as The Spider. When he's hired to investigate one of the Big Apple's most rotten crime lords, Silvio Manfredi (Brendan Gleeson), aka Silvermane, it forces Reilly to dig up the past and his old identity, returning to the streets as the criminal-thumping hero that has a spider-like sense for danger.

Now, we know it might be easy to get tangled up in the matters of the multiverse and questions about not only where this story fits in the Spider-Verse, but whether it's one deserving of your time. Well, worry not, as after getting through the first season, we've got five reasons why "Spider-Noir" is worth getting caught up in, beginning with its greatest trick that comes in two shades.

Perhaps the best thing that "Spider-Noir" does is lean into the era it's set in, and that includes how you decide to watch it. The show can be viewed in two formats: Authentic Black and White and True-Hue Full Color, and it won't take long until you realize that watching it in the former is really the only way to go.

The cynical viewer might initially be reluctant to make the switch and stick to the first few episodes in True-Hue to avoid distraction. Gradually, though, with every bit of archive television footage of The Spider that was shown in black and white, every photo snapped by Ben's best pal and journalist, Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris), you'll be left itching to see the rest of this world in its "authentic" form. It won't take long to realize that this really does improve the experience.

Every smoke-filled alley and sultry bar scene gets considerably better when viewed through this classic lens, as do the characters that inhabit them (more on them later). It adds to the atmosphere of a fleshed-out New York from a bygone era, found somewhere between Tim Burton's "Batman," Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy," and even some classic body horror movies. Incredibly, by doing things the old-fashioned way, "Spider-Noir" gives fans of the avenging arachnid something new at a time when the more well-known spider-based stories are going through motions that we might be more familiar with.

Over the past two decades, we've had three Spider-Men give us a live-action tour of modern-day New York. Sure, most of them have been great, but "Spider-Noir" really does apply a refreshing spin by introducing us to a hero from yesteryear and opening up a host of possibilities to explore. Just like Prime Video's "Batman: Caped Crusader" gave us a Dark Knight from a different time, Cage's live-action run as a character we've already seen him inhabit (albeit with a tweak to his name) gives us something very different that takes its time getting into hero mode.

Unlike the other Spider-Man stories led by Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire, "Spider-Noir" isn't your typical comic book caper. It's a detective story first and a Spider-Man story second, as Reilly puts the squeeze on those connected to this conspiracy via a good-old-fashioned grilling, and that's before he's even put on the mask.

More importantly, there are more interesting topics that other runs in the Marvel universe have skimmed over or handled pretty poorly. This might be the '30s in a different universe, but it's one that still suffers the same issues that ours had. Racially charged division and organized segregation is a pressure point for some characters, especially after the Great War, which has had a lasting effect on some more than others. Caught in the middle of all of it, though, is a hero who is fighting the good fight, and he couldn't be anyone else but Nicolas Cage.

Given how many Peter Parkers we've had in different forms, there's nothing to say that the same bit of casting freedom couldn't be applied to "Spider-Noir." Just because Nicolas Cage voiced Spider-Man Noir in "Into the Spider-Verse," it doesn't mean he has dibs on donning the black mask and the trilby here. And yet, as this world's Ben Reilly (who has no affiliation to Peter Parker's clone from the comics) slips back into his superhero antics, it's clear that this legendary star is pouring so much love into his take on the wall-crawler in a post-WWI era.

During Reilly's origin story episode, he explains how he paid repeat trips to the theater to remind himself how to be human again. Add this to Cage clearly looking to Humphrey Bogart for inspiration for his character, and there's no question that old-school movie magic has been applied to bringing The Spider to life. The outdated lingo we heard him spout in the Oscar-winning animation fits perfectly here, and Cage delivers it effortlessly as not just an ex-superhero but a worn-down detective who might be past his prime.

And yet, it's Cage's unmistakable swagger gives him entry into this era, and even more so when he occasionally dials it up while he's in a disguise other than the one with a webbed motif. Just like any comic book world, though, "Spider-Noir" is one bursting with more life than just the one in a spider costume.

Every Spider-Person is a hero in their own right, but it's the allies and antagonists around them that make them who they are, for better or worse. While Cage might be stealing the show, there are plenty of other cast members who are helping him get the job done and having their moment in this silver-screen world (should you choose to watch it that way) as well.

Lamorne Morris might always be "New Girl's" Winston to some, but after his Emmy-winning turn in "Fargo," he's equally brilliant here as this universe's scoop-hungry journalist, Robbie Robertson. With a friendship with Ben akin to Batman and Commissioner Gordon, the two have remarkable chemistry, with Morris matching Cage's eccentricity whenever Ben drags Robbie into parts of his undercover snooping.

On the other side of justice is the Oscar-nominated Brendan Gleeson. With Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk from "Daredevil: Born Again" still so fresh in Marvel fans' minds, Gleeson's Silvermane makes for a welcome change of pace. Smirking through cigarette smoke and manipulating the good, bad, and ugly of 1930s New York, he's not so much a Marvel villain, but more of a classic gangster of forgotten crime movies, fitting perfectly here. Then there's Li Jun Li as Cat Hardy, who hires Ben for his investigative skills and, once again, thanks to the crackling back and forth with a Cage who is channeling the movie icons of old, part of some of the show's best scenes as well.

Besides showing reverence for the likes of "Casablanca" and "The Maltese Falcon," there's a more sinister element at play in "Spider-Noir" when it comes to the vintage rogues gallery that comes up against The Spider. The more the show delves into Reilly's history, the closer it leans into sci-fi body horror and classic creature features. Echoes of "The Fly", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," and "The Invisible Man" present themselves, and some of The Spider's opposition have just as much of a tragic backstory as these iterations.

Jack Huston, who some might recall for a hugely underappreciated performance as Richard Harrow in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," is a little more coarse as Flint Marco, aka Sandman, caught in a love triangle that plays like a classic romance. Meanwhile, Abraham Popoola offers a more stoic, tortured version of Lonnie Lincoln, aka Tombstone — setting the bar high before another iteration played by rapper and actor Krondon arrives in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day."

Add in the unpredictable and occasionally frightening Megawatt (Andrew Lewis Caldwell), and "Spider-Noir" shows it really does have a tangled web to unravel. This is an amazing fantasy that has it all, and Nicolas Cage is spinning it in a way that only he can, no matter how weird and wonderful he gets. Judge for yourself when all eight episodes of "Spider-Noir" arrive on Prime Video on May 25, 2026.