Prime Video
Watching Nicolas Cage rattle off hard-boiled dialogue as a 1930s private eye with secret spider powers in the new Marvel series “Spider-Noir” feels halfway between a fever dream and an “SNL” sketch. It’s oddly fascinating to see a defiantly weird performer like Cage in full Sam Spade mode, and I have to applaud “Spider-Noir” — now streaming on Prime Video; I’ve seen the first three episodes — for even attempting to mash up classic film noir with high-flying comic book action. It’s a valiant effort, but the end result is more of a fun stylistic exercise than an actual TV show. “Spider-Noir” is mildly entertaining on a superficial level — but unlike a certain spider-webbing, it doesn’t stick.
Cage stars as Ben Reilly, a private investigator in Depression-era New York City who charges the classic “10 dollars a day, plus expenses” to chase down leads. He might look like a standard noir sleuth straight out of Raymond Chandler, but he’s got Spidey-senses — which are a big help when investigating, as you might imagine — along with web shooters that help him glide around the city. (Cage voiced a similar character in the animated hit “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” but this is explicitly based on the Marvel comic book.) Ben soon finds himself wrapped up in a complicated mystery involving the mayor, a local crime boss, a tough-talking dame, and a band of outlaws who seem to possess unexplained superpowers.
It looks great, but stays stubbornly on the surface
Prime Video
Hailing from showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot (“The Punisher”) and executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who produced “Spider-Verse”), “Spider-Noir” fully commits to the film noir bit, with shades of HBO’s recent “Perry Mason” reboot in its drab Great Depression aesthetics and “The Penguin” as it gives comic book characters a gritty, real-world spin. But those shows had an emotional authenticity that “Spider-Noir” never approaches, or even attempts. It stays stubbornly on the surface, building out an elaborate world of film noir cosplay with lots of snappy banter and melodramatic twists but not much genuine humanity.
The dedication to recreating the time period here is indeed impressive, with impeccable interiors and costumes that immerse us in vintage New York. (We get some hard-hitting action scenes, too, when things go sideways for Ben.) But the exteriors plainly look like studio lots with CGI sprinkled on top, which makes sense as a comic book come to life, but lends the whole thing a bit of a phony sheen. The performances are heightened as well, with the actors all competing to see who can out-noir each other by spitting out their tough-guy dialogue with the most sass. Meanwhile, the central mystery is too convoluted to hold our interest, and the scripts layer in a goofy sense of humor that’s straight out of a kids’ movie.
Cage is joined by a terrific supporting cast
Prime Video
It’s a little hard to take Nicolas Cage seriously as Ben: He always seems like he’s one inch away from launching into a wild-eyed rant, and his narration is so drowsy, it could be labeled as a narcotic. I’d like to see another actor with more gravitas tackle the role, but then again, Cage’s eccentric approach might be the exact right fit for a big swing like this. To the show’s credit, it does surround Cage with a terrific supporting cast, highlighted by Lamorne Morris as nosy newspaper reporter Robbie, “Sinners” standout Li Jun Li as sultry nightclub singer Cat Hardy, and Brendan Gleeson as fearsome crime boss Silvermane.
In another homage to old-school film noir, “Spider-Noir” offers two ways to watch: a color version and one in classic black-and-white. Having tried both, I actually think it works better in black-and-white, to match the noirs that inspired it, but that just adds another level of gimmick to it all. I had fun watching “Spider-Noir,” and I’m sure a lot of fans will, too, but it didn’t grab me the way a good TV show should. Spider-Man Noir was a cool side character as one of a thousand Spider-Men in “Into the Spider-Verse.” But here, as the main character, the joke gets old quickly.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: A boldly bizarre mash-up of film noir and comic book action, “Spider-Noir” commits to the bit but gives us too little substance along with all the style.
