Spider-Noir has dropped new details and images, offering a new look at Sony’s pulpy, hard-boiled take on Spider-Man lore, and it’s leaning hard into classic noir vibes.
Nicolas Cage as a Noir-Era Web-Slinger
The series stars Nicolas Cage as a weary private investigator in a Depression-era New York.
This version isn’t the familiar Peter Parker. Instead, Cage plays Ben Reilly, an older, jaded hero known simply as “The Spider,” trading wisecracks for cynicism and a fedora.
The newly released images via Esquire highlight the show’s smoky offices, rain-slicked streets, and Cage fully embracing the gumshoe persona.
“This character’s very different from the Peter Parker from the movies. He’s older and jaded, and not afraid to punch a guy in the face drunkenly,” producer Phil Miller said, while Chris Lord added, “He already had his Chinatown disillusionment moment that happened years and years ago.”
Black-and-White… or Color
One of the big hooks: Spider-Noir will be available in two formats.
Viewers can watch it in stark black-and-white, evoking classic film noir, or in a stylized color version that resembles colorized vintage films. Both versions were shot simultaneously, not added later.
“The truth is, they both work and they’re beautiful for different reasons,” Cage tells Esquire. “The color is super saturated and gorgeous. I think teenage viewers will appreciate the color, but I also want them to have the option. If they want to experience the concept in black and white, maybe that would instill some interest in them to look at earlier movies and enjoy that as an art form as well.”
Oren Uziel, co-showrunner of Spider-Noir, added, “It looks like a black and white film that’s been kind of colorized. That was one of the inspirations for how to do it.”
Femme Fatales and Familiar Faces
The images also spotlight Li Jun Li as Cat Hardy, a nightclub singer with clear femme-fatale energy (pictured below), plus noir-style reimaginings of Marvel characters like Robbie Robertson (above).
“They’re both investigators,” Uziel says of Robbie and Ben. “They both go back a long way. Their friendship has really deep ties. The biggest and most obvious difference is that Robbie is a guy who almost carries around a rabbit’s foot. He thinks he’s lucky, and it’s all going to work out. Ben is a character who thinks it’s never going to work out. It’s all going to go to shit. Life’s a big disaster. So Ben’s cynicism is kind of an opposing force to Robbie’s optimism.”
The cast leans into classic detective archetypes while still pulling from Spider-Man history.
Karen Rodriguez plays Janet, a newly created character for the series, described as always helpful, is compared to “Effie” from The Maltese Falcon.
Li Jun Li plays Cat Hardy, “a nightclub chanteuse who lures Reilly into the underworld conspiracy at the center of the series.”
What is Spider-Noir about?
The story centers on a powerful gangland boss, Silvermane, who has survived multiple assassination attempts.
What starts as a routine investigation spirals into something much bigger when Reilly uncovers signs that forces beyond ordinary crime are involved, including an arsonist with the ability to create fire from his hands and violent run-ins with hired muscle like Flint Marko.
When and Where It Streams
Spider-Noir is set to premiere this spring on MGM+ in the U.S., with global streaming on Prime Video.
