Spider-Noir review

Nic Cage goes Noir as a wall-crawling private eye in 1930s New York

Created by: Oren Uziel
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Brendan Gleeson, Li Jun Li
Rated TV-14
Release Date: May 25, 2026 (MGM+), May 27, 2026 (Amazon Prime)

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This review may contain spoilers

NOT the same Spider-Man Noir from Spider-Verse.            

Alright, let’s get this out of the way. This Spider-Man is not the Spider-Man from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s weird and confusing since both films have the incomparable (and oh so weird) talent of Nicholas Cage playing the role. He has the same costume, and both versions are detectives in noir times, but this Spider-Man goes by “The Spider,” and his real name is Ben Reilly. No Spider-Verse, no spider-buddies, and no Rubik’s Cube fascination.

I mean, I would love to see Cage trying to tell his 1930s friends about fighting bad guys with a pig superhero. That would have been “absolute cinema.”

“Does whatever a spider can, see?”

Ben Reilly is a private investigator struggling with his business and living in a crime-ridden New York. He was also a web-swinging superhero called the Spider, having to retire after a crushing failure. Mob boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin) runs the criminal underworld vigilante-free.

With a case luring Ben to Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li, Sinners), Silvermane’s girl, he’ll get back into masked crime-fighting to put the mobster down once and for all. But Silvermane has super-powered enforcers of his own for the Spider.

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

Hey, remember the Venom movies? Maybe Morbius, Madame Web, or that Kraven the Hunter movie?

Photo Credits: Sony Pictures

Those Marvel movies are all bunched up into what’s known as Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). They’re barely connected together and exist outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (although there was a slight connection there at one point).

Anyway, Spider-Noir is (somehow) also a part of the SSU, even though it’s set in its own universe. Which is weird since this show doesn’t even really connect to the Spider-Verse movie. And Spider-Verse isn’t part of the SSU, despite being Sony property.

Un-Caged weirdness

I don’t think it’s any secret – Nic Cage is weird, and he will always embrace the weirdness. He’s earned it, and he’s great at it.

Cage’s weirdness extends to Spider-Noir as he’s drugged, drunk, and thrown around by bad guys in bars and alley fights. His character also has a weird reaction that causes him to bunch up into a stiff ball (kinda like a dead spider) periodically, with no explanation.

Just Cage being Cage.

Also, fun fact – Cage has done superhero movies 6 times. I already mentioned Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Verse. But he was also Ghost Rider twice and Big Daddy in Kick-Ass (basically Batman). He also voiced Superman in the Teen Titans Go movie. He was almost Superman in a Tim Burton remake before it was shut down, but he got to cameo as long-haired Superman in The Flash.

Noir dropping a F-bomb

Hey, there’s a quieted F-bomb on this superhero show that was spawned from a family-friendly cartoon.

Authentic or True-Hue

Like any classy crime noir, the series is in black-and-white. The show has a cool look in grey-scaled New York with a great use of lighting and shadowing.

But, if black-and-white isn’t your thing, there’s a colorized version. You can choose either version, even during the episodes. The True-Hue Full Color version is beautiful. The colors are bright and make the show look like it comes right out of a pulp magazine page.

To be honest, each version has its enjoyment. There is no wrong to watch it.

That broadcast was real George, Sony!

Spider-Noir was pretty good, not gonna lie. Sony took its usual liberties to change characters and origins, but at least here it works.

Nic Cage coming back as the character was a bold and great choice. He brings his weirdness to the show but also brings his talent. Even without the webs and supervillains, Cage could pull off a legit crime noir private eye. If this show doesn’t get a second season, Cage should get into bringing back the genre.

Also, like everything else in 2026 so far, no post-credit scenes.

Spider-Noir is streaming on MGM+ and Amazon Prime.