Synopsis:

Set in the 1930s with a noir setup, an aging Ben Reilly, working as a PI, struggling with his past and bills, must don the mask once again as an exceptional case comes his way. A case that has a connection to one of his pasts, before he changed his identity to “Ben Reilly”.

Trailer:

Images:

My Review:

A live-action Spider-Man series on Amazon Prime, which I never thought I would enjoy!

I owe this review to everyone who asked, “Nicolas Cage? Seriously? As Spider-Man?” because I was one of those people.

I’ve enjoyed Nic Cage in a handful of movies over the years, but when I first heard that he would be playing Spider-Man Noir in a live-action series, I was completely unconvinced. He is in his 60’s, how could he possibly play Spider-Man? This, for me, was a classic example of “Don’t judge the book by its cover”. This was a really well-done Spider-Man TV show.

The show is based on the Spider-Man Noir comics that debuted in 2009. This was one of Marvel’s replies to DC Elseworlds-style comics in a bit of a ‘What If…?’ style. Anyway, in the comics, Peter Parker is a private investigator operating during the Great Depression era, giving the character a darker, pulp-noir atmosphere that sets him apart from the traditional Spider-Man stories.

Nic Cage first voiced this character in the animated movie, Spider-Nan: Into the Spider-Verse. Fast forward a few years, and Cage himself stepped into bringing the character into live action. One of the best things about Spider-Noir is that you don’t need any prior knowledge of the comics or previous appearances of the character to enjoy it. The series stands on its own, and anyone unaware of Spider-Man can watch this and have a good time.

According to this TV series, Spider-Man (referred to as simply the ”Spider”) has been around protecting New York City for a while before disappearing from the public eye. Following a personal tragedy, he gave up the mask and left that chapter of his life behind. Nic Cage plays an ordinary private investigator named Ben Reilly, who leads a care-free life with his small world revolving around his loyal secretary Janet, his aspiring reporter friend Robbie, and his bottle of booze. One fine day, Ben was hired by a client to give them the whereabouts of a person, but Ben soon discovered that his target possessed superhuman abilities. As he digs deeper, he uncovers a much larger mystery: there is more than one person with powers, and all of them appear to have gained their abilities within the last six months. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into something far more dangerous, forcing Ben to confront a world he thought he had left behind.

A few highlights of the TV show:

1. It has both the ‘black-and-white’ and the ‘colored’ versions. One can switch to any of those versions when you are watching the show. On a personal note, I kind of used this option to guess the colors of clothing in black and white mode and then confirmed them in color mode.
   
2. I really enjoyed the camera, lighting, and the way the series was stylishly shot (I’m a fan of the black and white version).
   
3. This is the only Spider-Man show (to date) where you see the least of him in his Spider-Man costume. For most of the show, one can see him only as Ben Reilly.
   
4. One gets to see a few of their favorite Spider-Man villains re-imagined.
   
5. I became a fan of the love-hate relationship between Ben Reilly and his assistant, Janet, throughout the show.

Will meet you all soon with a review on another interesting Comic/TV show/Movie. Until then, Bye!

My Ratings:

I would personally rate this TV show a 3 out of 5. The 3, mainly because it was a different take on Spider-Man. I felt the story was okay-ish, not mind-blowing. This is probably the Spider-Man show with the fewest action sequences.

Final Verdict:

I think there may be a sequel to it? Lots are remaining to be explored.

^{Pic Credits: MGM+, Amazon Prime, Marvel}