Spider-Noir (Prime Video) 2026

Nicholas Cage stars in this detective noir inspired take on the Spiderman mythos. Set in 1930s New York, the series follows middle aged private eye Ben Reilly as he gets caught up in a series of events involving the Mayor, the Crime Boss Silvermane, and superpowered victims of a war experiment. The same experiment that granted Ben the reflexes, senses and web spinning abilities of a spider. 

The story mixes comicbooky elements with a captivating mystery plot while grounding it in the sensibilities of similar stories of the 1930s era. The tone of the show, the slang used, the atmosphere, all of it, great. 

 Spider-Noir actually debuted in a comic series but I am not able to comment on how accurate the show is to the comic. Instead, I can only comment on the the quality of the show itself and overall it pleases me. This is a solid series with memorable villains, a lovable supporting cast, and of course its eccentric lead. 

 Nic Cage owns the role of Ben Riley. After he was granted spider powers, he dedicated his life to fighting crime as “The Spider” that is until a mistake cost him the love of his life. Ben gives up his crime fighting identity and grows cynical, eking out a living as a detective for hire who puts money first. 

While curmudgeonly at times, Ben still retains his heart of gold. A series of events puts him in the crosshairs of multiple parties, and when the safety of the city is threatened “The Spider” may yet prowl again.

 I came into this purely for Nic Cage. An interview caught my curiosity when Cage mentioned playing Ben Riley not like a human granted spider powers, but like a spider who became human. And I was gearing up for that signature brand of manic humor that Nic Cage is famous for. Alas the whole “spider learning to be like a man” sub plot is disappointing short but at least Ben Riley gets in some great laughs with a number of hilarious scenes. 

 Unique to Spider-Noir is its visual style. Viewers can watch it in Black and White (as the creators intended) or “real hue” color. Each has its ups and downs. The black and white lets me focus more on the story and dialogue. The smart placement of light sources makes it visually striking and very true to black and white films of the era. 

On the flip side, the colour version does lend a whole new dimension to the show. It is vibrant, colourful, very true to the fashion of the 1930s. Which version to watch would boil down to preference. I found action scenes better in colour as the camerawork can be tad frenetic at times so the colour helps to distinguish who is punching who. 

The only negative is that the colour can get a little distracting with how garish some of it looks. CGI VFX heavy scenes like those where we see the city skyline also suffer a bit in colour; the CGI is less obvious is black and white. 

 At just 8 episodes long, Spider-Noir is perfectly paced with nothing that feels like filler. It tells a complete story with a compelling mystery element and a proper closure, while letting its charismatic cast carry the show throughout. Highly recommended.