{"id":574200,"date":"2026-05-09T05:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/574200\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T05:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:18:18","slug":"nicolas-cage-makes-history-for-dc-marvels-big-three-after-49-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/574200\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Cage Makes History For DC & Marvel’s “Big Three” After 49 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The imminent release of Prime Video\u2019s new TV series Spider-Noir<\/a> marks a hugely historic moment for DC Comics as well as Marvel. Nicolas Cage is about to do what no other actor has done in the superhero genre before. Cage makes his live-action debut as Ben Reilly\u2019s Spider-Man Noir when MGM+ premieres the series on May 25.<\/p>\n

It arrives on Prime Video two days later, introducing TV audiences to the version of Spider-Man<\/a> steeped in the dark traditions of film noir. Reilly is a clone of Peter Parker created to fight the original Spider-Man, who instead becomes Parker\u2019s crime-fighting ally.<\/p>\n

When he isn\u2019t donning a black Spider-suit, he\u2019s working as a private investigator in the mold of Humphrey Bogart\u2019s classic movie characters Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. In honor of the cinematic movement it\u2019s named after, Spider-Noir has even been shot in black and white, although a color version will also be available as an alternative viewing experience.<\/p>\n

However, the show is more than simply the first live-action iteration of Spider-Man Noir onscreen. By casting Nicolas Cage as its protagonist, it\u2019s making a piece of history that\u2019s far more significant. Cage becomes the first actor to play two of the \u201cBig Three\u201d greatest comic-book superheroes<\/a> in live-action, following his appearance as Superman in the 2023 movie The Flash.<\/p>\n

Spider-Noir Features Nicolas Cage’s Live-Action Debut As Spider-Man<\/p>\n

\"Spider-Noir
\n Spider-Noir Thumbnail<\/p>\n

Nicolas Cage has already played Spider-Man in animated form, voicing the same dark variation on the character in the 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but Spider-Noir marks his first live-action appearance as the superhero. This TV adaptation signals that Marvel\u2019s noir variant of Spider-Man<\/a> is set to become a regular feature of Peter Parker\u2019s screen universe.<\/p>\n

The upcoming animated sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will see Cage reprise this role next year, too. A dark, grizzled Spidey who doubles up as a hard-boiled detective character made cynical by the traumas of his past is very much a sign of the times when it comes to screen comic-book adaptations.<\/p>\n

This TV series feels like a response by Sony Pictures and Amazon MGM to neo-noir DC releases like Lauren LeFranc\u2019s miniseries The Penguin, and 2022\u2019s Matt Reeves movie The Batman, as well as the Joker franchise created by Todd Phillips. All these releases \u2013 Spider-Noir included \u2013 are also symptomatic of the times we live in.<\/p>\n

Many viewers are no longer satisfied with brightly-colored costumes and easy answers from superhero franchises. They want dark and complex antiheroes who reflect the realities of a real world beset by manifest contradictions. In this sense, Nicolas Cage is a perfect fit for both Spider-Man and Superman.<\/p>\n

Cage Is Making History For Both Spider-Man And Superman<\/p>\n

\"Nicolas
\n Nicolas Cage as Superman in the multiverse in The Flash<\/p>\n

Cage\u2019s cameo appearance as one of many variants of Superman in The Flash may have seemed like a surprising piece of casting, but it was actually a long time coming. The actor was originally supposed to play Clark Kent in Tim Burton\u2019s canceled movie Superman Lives<\/a> in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, his history of voicing Spider-Man Noir made him the obvious choice to play this Peter Parker clone in a live-action series. As a result, the stars have aligned for two of DC and Marvel\u2019s so-called \u201cBig Three\u201d superheroes. For the first time in history, an actor who\u2019s previously played one of Spider-Man, Batman or Superman is now playing another.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 49 years since Spider-Man first made his live-action screen debut, with Nicholas Hammond playing the character in a 1977 TV movie which served as the pilot for the show The Amazing Spider-Man. Since that time, we\u2019ve seen several different actors play Spidey onscreen, while many more have played live-action versions of Superman and Batman.<\/p>\n

Superhero<\/p>\n

Year Of Live-Action Debut<\/p>\n

Number Of Actors<\/p>\n

Batman<\/p>\n

1943<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

Superman<\/p>\n

1948<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

Spider-Man<\/p>\n

1977<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, no one has played two of these three iconic superheroes in the flesh, until now. The closest anyone came before Nicolas Cage was Ben Affleck, who played Superman actor George Reeves in the 2006 movie Hollywoodland, before going on to play Batman himself.<\/p>\n

But Spider-Noir is the definitive history-maker, because Cage is the first actor to be directly credited as two of the superheroes in live-action productions. Incredibly, he\u2019s managed this feat at 62, having already been late into his fifties when he finally played Superman. Age really is just a number when it comes to Ben Reilly and Clark Kent, it seems.<\/p>\n

\"spider-noir-poster.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 27, 2026<\/p>\n

Network<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMGM+<\/p>\n

Showrunner<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOren Uziel, Steve Lightfoot<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Lamorne Morris<\/p>\n

\n Robbie Robertson\n <\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Brendan Gleeson<\/p>\n

\n Silvermane\n <\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Jack Huston<\/p>\n

\n Chief McNamara\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The imminent release of Prime Video\u2019s new TV series Spider-Noir marks a hugely historic moment for DC Comics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-574200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}