Ever since Nicolas Cage voiced the black-and-white Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, it was clear that fans clamoured for more of his moody musings. Now, all these years later, we finally have it: Spider-Noir is a live-action series coming to Prime Video, starring Nic Cage himself as Spidey variant Ben Reilly, a hard-boiled ‘30s New York gumshoe with a sideline in slinging webs. And yes, it’ll be in black-and-white (as well as a full-colour ‘True Hue’ version too).
While fans will get to see more of the character they loved from Spider-Verse, this isn’t the exact same version that we’ll be following in Spider-Noir. “Same character, different universe,” says showrunner Oren Uziel, a longtime cohort of Spider-Verse overlords Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also produce on the show. “It’s a different flavour of that character, even though it’s still Nic’s voice,” Uziel further explains. “It’s not a continuation of Into The Spider-Verse. Once Phil and Chris introduced the idea of the multiverse, I think you’re allowed to take things and make them your own.”
For Uziel and Cage, the most important thing was “to make a version of Spider-Man that no-one had ever seen before,” the showrunner explains. And he recently got to screen all eight episodes for the leading man. Fair to say, Cage enjoyed it – while he watched the episodes, he “spoke his own lines back, with pleasure and glee,” recalls Uziel. “It was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced.” Of all the multiverses to live in, thank goodness we’re in the one where we get Cage in Spider-Noir.
Read Empire’s full Spider-Noir story in The Mandalorian And Grogu issue, on sale Thursday March 12. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Noir comes to Prime Video from May 27.