Spider-Noir review: a pulpy joke taken too far | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAIPolicyNotificationsNotificationsHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.NotificationsNotificationsHamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersArchivesStoreVerge Product UpdatesSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Sony’s sloppy Spider-Man universe gets even messier with Spider-NoirNotificationsNotificationsComments DrawerNotificationsCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...EntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechAmazonCloseAmazonPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AmazonSony’s sloppy Spider-Man universe gets even messier with Spider-NoirSpider-Verse aside, it feels like Sony is just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.by Charles Pulliam-MooreCloseCharles Pulliam-MooreFilm & TV ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Charles Pulliam-MooreMay 26, 2026, 4:30 PM UTCLinkShareGift Image: AmazonEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechAmazonCloseAmazonPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AmazonSony’s sloppy Spider-Man universe gets even messier with Spider-NoirSpider-Verse aside, it feels like Sony is just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.by Charles Pulliam-MooreCloseCharles Pulliam-MooreFilm & TV ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Charles Pulliam-MooreMay 26, 2026, 4:30 PM UTCLinkShareGiftCharles Pulliam-MooreCloseCharles Pulliam-MoorePosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Charles Pulliam-Moore is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.After years of it seeming like the Spider-Man film rights might be better off in Marvel’s hands alone, Into the Spider-Verse came along and proved that Sony was still capable of telling phenomenal stories featuring everyone’s favorite webhead. Into the Spider-Verse’s sumptuous visuals and focus on a different web-slinging New Yorker made it unlike any other Spider-Man adaptation. And it was genuinely shocking to see Sony follow the film up with a bigger, bolder, more imaginative sequel just a few years later.Part of what made the first two Spider-Verse features so much fun to watch was the way they cleverly incorporated many of the lesser-known Spider-people Sony can legally use in its projects. Normies (read: people who don’t read comics) came to love Hailee Steinfeld’s Spider-Gwen, John Mulaney’s Spider-Ham, and Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Man Noir. And Sony took the films’ success as a sign that it could re-create a similar kind of magic with other characters who exist in Spider-Man’s orbit, like Venom and Madame Web, with varying levels of success.Amazon’s live-action Spider-Noir series is Sony’s latest attempt at cashing in on the Spider-Man name independent of Marvel. In addition to being a comedy with very loose ties to the Spider-Verse films, the show is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the hard-boiled crime dramas that dominated Hollywood’s Golden Age. Aesthetically, Spider-Noir is a charming delight — particularly when you watch it in black and white (there’s also a colorized version). But the series is so lacking in narrative substance that it feels like Sony has lost sight of what made its most successful Spider-Man projects shine.Rather than bringing Cage back to portray a flesh-and-blood version of his monochromatic Spider-Verse hero, Spider-Noir centers Ben Reilly — a brooding vigilante from yet another universe who the citizens of New York City know best as “The Spider.” Though fighting crime with his superpowers once gave Reilly a sense of purpose, the tragic death of his girlfriend drives him to leave the hero life behind in favor of becoming a private investigator.After five years of working with Reilly, his secretary Janet (Karen Rodriguez) knows about his uncanny ability to sense danger and his knack for snapping photos, but he’s also been slacking when it comes to bringing in new clients and hasn’t paid her in months. Janet is almost ready to quit when Reilly lands a seemingly ordinary case that brings him face-to-face with femme fatale / nightclub singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li ). It doesn’t surprise Reilly to learn that the situation involves local mob boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson) and his gaggle of dim-witted goons. But Reilly is shocked when his investigation leads him to superpowered people like Flint Marko (Jack Huston).Very little of Spider-Noir feels anything like Marvel’s 2009 Spider-Man: Noir comics series, and its commonalities with Cage’s Spider-Verse character are few and far between. That might work if the show had a unique story to tell or if it was fully committed to being a straight drama. But Reilly’s arc is marked by many classic Spider-Man beats — get ready to hear about great power and great responsibility again — that have already been adapted multiple times before. And Spider-Noir frequently leans into a cheesy kind of humor that keeps it from living up to its name.Though Spider-Men from every universe tend to be wisecracking jokesters, there’s an intermittent cringiness to Cage’s outré performance here that highlights why this character (or at least a variant of him) works better as a cartoon character. From scene to scene, Cage plays Reilly as an aging quipster doing an iffy James Cagney impression, a smooth-talking Humphrey Bogart type, and a straight-up weirdo who lacks any sort of believable chemistry with romantic partners as they’re introduced. Cage’s Reilly is somewhat compelling when Spider-Noir calls for him to be a sullen, contemplative man pondering his place in the world. But those moments tend to be cut short as the show barrels through its too-predictable central story.Image: AmazonCage’s Spider-Verse character worked because he brought an atonal energy to both films that complemented their focus on the multiverse. Things like Spider-Man Noir’s overwrought seriousness and inability to understand colors were funny because of the way they contrasted with the chaos and whimsy around him. But because Spider-Noir is so lacking in terms of emotional and thematic detail, Reilly comes across more like a messy pastiche of half-baked ideas as opposed to a fleshed-out character.It’s a shame because the show is gorgeous and it’s clear that Cage is having fun with the role. But that’s not enough to make Spider-Noir a show that you need to see. Rather, the show feels like the result of Sony learning the wrong lessons from its previous wins. And it’s a reminder that we’re still a ways out from getting back to the good stuff.Spider-Noir also stars Lamorne Morris, Abraham Popoola, Lukas Haas, Andrew Lewis Caldwell, and Jack Mikesell. All eight episodes premiere on MGM Plus on May 25th and on Amazon Prime beginning May 27th.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Charles Pulliam-MooreCloseCharles Pulliam-MooreFilm & TV ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Charles Pulliam-MooreAmazonCloseAmazonPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AmazonEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentMarvelCloseMarvelPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All MarvelTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechTV Show ReviewsCloseTV Show ReviewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TV Show ReviewsTV ShowsCloseTV ShowsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TV ShowsMost PopularMost PopularFerrari reveals its first EV, with design help from Jony IveSennheiser’s new Momentum 5 headphones have upgraded ANC and a replaceable batteryTHE PEOPLE DO NOT YEARN FOR AUTOMATIONVideoUber president says AI spending is getting ‘harder to justify’Google’s new anything-to-anything AI model is wildThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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The review evaluates Amazon’s live-action Spider-Noir series, suggesting that it contributes to a growing sense of disorganization within Sony’s Spider-Man universe, feeling as if the studio is haphazardly attempting to incorporate disparate elements rather than building a cohesive narrative. This assessment arises from the context of prior successes, such as Spider-Verse, which demonstrated Sony’s capability to tell phenomenal stories featuring various Spider-people. The reviewer notes that the initial appeal of the Spider-Verse films stemmed from incorporating lesser-known characters, which proved that Sony could successfully replicate magic with other Spider-Man related figures.

Spider-Noir, which attempts to capitalize on the Spider-Man name independently of Marvel, is described as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Golden Age crime dramas, balancing comedy with loose references to the Spider-Verse films. Aesthetically, the series is considered charming, particularly in black and white, but the core criticism is that it severely lacks narrative substance, indicating that Sony may have lost sight of the elements that made their previous Spider-Man projects successful.

The plot centers on Ben Reilly, a brooding vigilante who transitions into a private investigator after a personal tragedy, pursuing a case involving a femme fatale, a mob boss, and superpowered individuals. While this setup invokes familiar Spider-Man archetypes, the reviewer finds that the series relies too heavily on predictable tropes, such as the reiteration of the great power and great responsibility theme, and consistently employs a cheesy humor that undermines the title.

The portrayal of the central character is linked to the performance of Nicolas Cage. While the actor engages with the role, the reviewer finds his performance inconsistent, characterized by a mixture of outdated cinematic types such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, which detracts from the character's depth. Although the reviewer acknowledges moments where Reilly is presented as a contemplative figure, these moments are frequently interrupted by the show’s predictable storyline. The review posits that the character functions better as a cartoon figure than as a deeply realized human, which is a consequence of the show's overall deficiency in emotional and thematic detail. Ultimately, the series is seen as less a successful venture and more a reflection of Sony learning incorrect lessons from its prior achievements, suggesting that the franchise remains far from its peak quality.