'Spider-Noir' Web-Series Review: Hollywood veteran Nicolas Cage as the new Spider-Man is worth the price of your subscription

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Abraham Popoola

Creator: Oren Uziel

Language: English

Tobey Maguire is imbedded in our collective consciousness when it comes to the actor who has played superhero Spider-Man on the big screen. It all started right in this month back in 2002 and continued for three more years with 2004 and 2007, but destiny had other plans. We then had two more actors take on the iconic role- Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland. And the comparisons are endless and futile. But who would have thought this superhero and his story would get a new arc and that too in the form of a series that’s now streaming on Prime Video? The actor who has donned that cape is a Hollywood between the globe adores and admires.

The name is Nicolas Cage. He plays a humorous private investigator named Ben Reilly. He has a secretary who always has quips ready. The down-on-their-luck duo struggles to make its ends meet which establishes the irony that even superheroes have their own battles. The first episode unfolds in black and white montage that actually gives the show far more depth and dazzle than the colored version. The era is the 1930s. The production design feels accurate and apt. Cage is a seasoned star and a dependable performer, and he’s genuinely captivating both as the Spider-Man and as the sparkling investigator. There’s a femme fatale too named Cat Hardy, played with mystery by Li Jun Li. She has her own demons and secrets too. There are a couple of other subplots all woven together.

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The role that has been given to Cage doesn’t necessarily require him to don his cape all the time. He needs to save himself first before he can save the world as his job invites a lot of enemies. And he does save a lot of lives as a PI too. And that black SpiderMan suit looks stunning. Those days of blue and red are gone long ago. Unlike the coming-of-age lens audiences traditionally associate with Spider-Man, Spider-Noir brings a darker, moodier and more noir-inspired take to the superhero universe, making it one of the most distinctive Spider-Man adaptations yet.

Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir was already one of the most distinctive characters in Into the Spider-Verse. He was stylish, theatrical and deliberately out of step with everyone around him. But Spider-Noir gives the character a new kind of importance. By bringing the series into live action, the series takes Spider-Man in a different direction. Instead of another coming-of-age story, this version leans into crime, mystery and a hero who has already been carrying the weight of the mask for years.

That is what makes Cage's return so interesting from a franchise perspective. Spider-Noir is not just expanding the Spider-Verse, it is all about testing how far the Spider-Man identity can evolve. It shows that Spider-Man does not always need to exist within familiar coming-of-age territory built around youth and romance. Spider-Man can also be a damaged man in a trench coat, walking through a city that has already taken too much from him.

WATCH the trailer of 'Spider-Noir' here: 

Spider-Noir is now streaming on Prime Video