TV Review: Spider-Noir (2026)

Spider-Noir (2026) created for television by Oren Uziel based on the Marvel Comics character

Ben Reilly (Nicholas Cage) is a private detective in 1930s New York City. He used to be The Spider, a super-hero who fought crime (organized and otherwise). That ended five years earlier when his wife died. Since then, crime is on the rise, especially due to the influence of Silverback (Brendan Gleeson), a crime boss who is on the lookout for new opportunities. One opportunity is the emergence of other superpowered people. Through subordinates, he hires Reilly to tail a guy who can cause fires (like the Fantastic Four's Human Torch). The guy sets fire to Siverback's mansion, so finding the flame guy is more important than ever. Reilly discovers another PI on the case, who winds up getting killed when the situation gets more complicated. Reilly is able to talk his way out of the situation, though he winds up being hired by lounge singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), who is more or less owned by Silverback, to find her missing bodyguard who is also developing superpowers. As the situation gets harder and more complicated, will Reilly resume his alter-ego he had hoped to leave behind?

Obviously the answer is yes, though he goes through a lot of angst along the way. Reilly's motto is "With no power comes no responsibility," which he knows deep down is the wrong way to go about things but he's also so burned out and unhappy. Cage gives a good performance, with some of the over-the-top ticks and physicality that he is known for. The PI part of his character lets him bluff his way into and out of situations; the Spider part lets him physically imitate a spider or other insect. 

The show leans into the noir with the down and out detective going up against organized crime, which includes corrupt cops and politicians. The villains are scarred war vets (like Reilly) who have trouble fitting into society, only partly because of their new powers. Plenty of whiskey is drunk and plenty of cigarettes are smoked. The show is available in black and white or color. I watched the first episode in black and white then immediately afterward in color. I didn't think the color added much to the storytelling so I kept with the black and white. The show has dutch-angled shots almost all the time, another trademark of noir films though maybe not as much as here. I found the style enjoyable if occasionally over the top.

Marvel has generally been successful in doing the superheroes-in-a-given-genre treatment (Ant-man as a heist film, Captain America: Winter Soldier as 1970s paranoid political thriller. etc.). This is another example which I enjoyed.

Recommended.

As I publish this (June 2026), the show is only available streaming from Amazon Prime.