THE IDIOSYNCRATIC NICOLAS Cage can always be relied on to give all he has to the screen. You might not always love what he does, but even when he goes around chewing the scenery (like in the romantic comedy Moonstruck), you fully believe in his commitment to character. This is a man who gives it his all.
So it’s hard to believe in a way that Spider-Noir, which begins on Prime on Wednesday, is his first proper foray into television. Surely his specific set of skills had been utilised for the small screen before? Turns out: no.
But what is Spider-Noir, and what can you expect from it?
What is Spider-Noir all about?
Sony Pictures Television / YouTube
The live-action series is based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, which was published in 2009.
It’s about Ben Reilly (Nicolas Cage), a veteran private detective in 1930s New York down on his luck.
Unlike the usual gumshoes you’ll find in noir movies, Reilly was also a superhero once upon a time (hey – this is Marvel we’re talking about here!). So it isn’t long before he’s forced to lean back into his superhero life, albeit reluctantly.
What sort of superhero?
Well, this is part of Stan Lee’s Spider-Man universe, and Spider-Noir started off in the comic books as a clone of the original Spider-Man.
Cage actually voiced this character in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, and fans were apparently quite taken with him indeed. Well, he is the sort of actor who you just know would make a wonderful meal out of playing a superhero.
The series isn’t a continuation of the storyline from Into The Spiderverse, though. The multiverse is an established part of Marvel now, and this allows them to take the character in a slightly new direction. (Peter Parker, it has to be noted, doesn’t exist in season one of Spider-Noir, so you won’t be seeing him pop up.)
Co-showrunner Oren Oziel told Entertainment Weekly that they’re really leaning into the noir of it all:
The thing that I said a lot from start to finish was, ‘We’re really trying to make an old Bogart movie. It’s just that Bogart happens to be Spider-Man.”
Who’s starring in it aside from Nicolas Cage?
Well, there’s an Irish connection here, as Brendan Gleeson stars as mob boss Silvermane.
There’s also Lamorne Morris as newspaper reporter Robbie Robertson, Li Jun Li as singer Cat Hardy, Karen Rodriguez as a secretary, Abraham Popoola as Lonnie Lincoln and Jack Huston as Flint Marko.
What’s this about it being in black and white?
Yes, it’s available to watch in black and white, and in colour – an unusual move, but one which suits the theme.
Turns out that Cage himself is partly responsible for this. He said on the red carpet that he suggested it be filmed in colour, because younger audiences might not have a lot of experience with black and white films. He hopes that it will be a gateway for teens into “great American cinema”.
Cage is also reported to have gleaned inspiration when preparing for his role from the iconic noir actors like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, so while this is a superhero series, it might well be something that classic film fans enjoy too.
Uziel said of Cage:
Every day on set when we talked in his trailer, he would come to work with, ‘This bit is gonna be Bogart from The Big Sleep. This bit is gonna be a little bit of Cagney. You’re gonna see some Peter Lorre here… He gets so much joy out of it. That’s why he’s Nic Cage.
When can we watch it?
Spider-Noir consists of eight episodes and will begin streaming on Prime on 27 May.