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This hard-boiled webslinger is swinging onto your screen in a brand-new way! Join us as we break down everything you need to know about the gritty live-action series "Spider-Noir," from the dark comic book origins of Spider-Man Noir, to the story of Ben Reilly, the stellar cast including Nicolas Cage, and what this show could mean for the future of Sony's spider-verse!
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00:00The people could use a hero. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're breaking down
00:06everything you need to know about the show Spider-Noir and its titular hard-boiled web-slinger.
00:11We'll be getting into spoilers for the Spider-Noir character and potential spoilers for the show
00:16so consider this your warning. What can I say? The world's a dangerous place.
00:22Spider-Man Noir's Origins Spider-Man Noir debuted in February
00:26of 2009 and issue one of a comic book that was appropriately named Spider-Man Noir.
00:31In the story we meet Peter Parker in the year 1932 on Earth 90214. This version of him had a
00:37pretty similar path in life as the normal Earth 616 Peter Parker but there were some key differences.
00:43The Peter Parker was well past his high school years meaning his life as a costume crime fighter
00:48wouldn't start until he was already an adult. His Aunt May and Uncle Ben also weren't an
00:52everyday traditional couple. Instead, they were social activists knee-deep in trying to right
00:57systemic wrongs and stick it to the corrupt bigwigs. In fact, Uncle Ben was a WW1 fighter pilot who
01:04after the war took aim against the gangster Norman Osborn, better known as the Goblin. Sadly,
01:10the Goblin's crew of thugs would inevitably catch up to Ben and kill him in retaliation. Actually,
01:16that's putting it lightly. A cannibalistic version of Adrian Toomes literally ate the man alive. Yikes!
01:22This canon event rattled Peter and he soon embarked on a quest for revenge that saw his path crossed
01:27with reporter Ben Uri. They'd worked closely together and one fateful night, Peter learned
01:32about some shady happenings at a nearby warehouse and decided to go there to investigate it. What he
01:37found were some thugs smuggling ancient artifacts, including an antique known as a Spider Idol. This
01:42artifact was accidentally broken and once it did, it released a swarm of deadly spiders, one of which bit
01:48Peter. Spider-Man Noir's story only gets weirder from here. The spider bite knocked Peter out and
01:54led to a dream where he met a Rushka gal, aka the Spider God. Yeah, that's right. Peter basically had
02:00a come-to-Spider-Jesus moment. After this, he gained some incredible spider powers and a new sense of
02:06direction. By taking Uncle Ben's WW1 uniform and repurposing it into a costume, Peter decided to
02:12avenge his uncle's death. In his pursuit of justice, he officially became Spider-Man and, well,
02:18the rest is pretty much history. It's worth mentioning that instead of the traditional red
02:22and blue, this Spider-Man rocks all black. A black trench coat, black gloves, and black goggles. Not to
02:28mention, he also carries a revolver at all times. Yeah, this Spidey doesn't mess around. He's willing to
02:35kill if that's what it takes to get the job done. He was essentially created to be part of a
02:39new
02:39publishing wave in Marvel called Marvel Noir. The goal for this bold initiative was to take
02:44iconic characters and recontextualize them to be part of the grungy detective noir,
02:48Great Depression era of the 1930s. There's actually a whole slew of other characters that happened to
02:53be in this imprint. Some names include Iron Man Noir, Daredevil Noir, Punisher Noir, and even X-Men
03:00Noir and many more. That being said, Spider-Man Noir was easily the breakout character of this brand.
03:06A Crash Course on Ben Reilly Considering that we already mentioned how Spider-Man Noir is Peter
03:11Parker, it might seem odd to pivot now and talk about Ben Reilly, but there's a reason behind that.
03:17I managed to suppress them most of the time. What's going on, Ben?
03:24The upcoming Spider-Noir show is actually going to be following Ben as the main character instead of Peter.
03:29It's a pretty interesting switch-up, but we'll talk more in depth about that creative departure later.
03:35For now, we're going to give you guys a crash course on clones.
03:39Whoa! I don't think I even want to hear your story.
03:42All of you must hear the Scarlet Spider story.
03:45Ben Reilly first broke into the comics in issue 149 of The Amazing Spider-Man. He was a clone of
03:50Peter Parker created by a mad scientist named Miles Warren, aka the Jackal. Ben and Peter's lives
03:55would become entangled ever since Ben showed up. They clashed a couple of times in what was known
04:00as the clone saga. The name sounds pretty cool, but it was actually one of Spider-Man's most hated
04:05storylines. We won't get into all the reasons why it didn't work, but the long short is Marvel
04:16wanted to replace Peter with Ben and fans weren't having it. Though he got off to a rough start with
04:21the readers, Ben would eventually come into his own as a beloved hero. He'd also told the line between
04:26good and bad several times, but he's most popular when he's on the side of the angels. As a hero,
04:32Ben managed to have a stint as Spider-Man a few times, but he really found his footing as the
04:37Scarlet Spider. At his core, Ben's a clone, an imitation, a copy of someone else, so whenever
04:43he can carve out an identity for himself, it resonates a lot with fans. He's actually not the
04:48only Peter Parker clone. There's also his brother Kane, a troubled hero in his own right, but Ben's
04:53undoubtedly the breakout of the two. And with that in mind, it seems like Ben Reilly is getting some
04:57more time in the spotlight. The premise of the show. Way back in early 2023, Sony turned some heads
05:09when they greenlit a Spider-Man Noir show. Every mystery forms a complex web, but pull the right strand
05:18and it's a straight line to the answer. The live action series would be a partnership between Sony
05:24and Prime Video, a streaming service owned by Amazon and MGM Plus, also owned by Amazon. Since 2023,
05:30we learned a lot more about what this project was shaped up to be. It's officially titled Spider-Noir and
05:36Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the architects of the animated Spider-Verse movies, are developers on it.
05:40And it's a no on the cape. I think it's cool. Take that off. It's disrespectful. Spider-Man
05:45doesn't wear a cape. Aiding them in the quest to make this thing a reality is their showrunner
05:49Oren Yuziel, who has also collaborated with Lord and Miller on other projects before. The basic idea
05:54for the series is that it follows Ben Reilly in Great Depression Air in New York. Ben's a grizzled down
06:00on his luck private eye, who's already retired from his crime-fighting life as the spider due to a tragedy.
06:05But a new threat forces this hard-boiled gumshoe detective to resume life as a hero to protect the
06:11city. I came here to offer you a job. My friend disappeared. Spider-Noir is releasing in two
06:16different ways. You can watch the whole thing in black and white if you want to truly immerse
06:21yourself and get the real noir vibes. Or if you prefer, you can watch it in true hue fuel color
06:26to see all those wonderfully vibrant costumes and set pieces. Either way you watch, you're going to be
06:32in for some pure web-slinging action. We mentioned earlier that Spider-Noir is focusing on Ben Reilly
06:37instead of Peter Parker and there's a couple of reasons for that. In an interview with Esquire,
06:41Oren talked about how this was a story the team imagined more fitting for someone different from
06:46Peter Parker. To many people, Peter is a high school kid with a heart of gold and even though he
06:58sees a
06:59lot of harrowing danger, he still has a certain amount of innocence to him. With Ben however,
07:04they can delve into much darker territories. They want to show a version of the wall crawler that's
07:09jaded and in many ways broken down by the system. Think of it like how Jack Nicholson's Jake Geitz
07:14is broken down at the end of Chinatown.
07:16Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown.
07:18But beyond the story reason for using Ben, there's another potential reason for using Ben
07:23Reilly instead of Peter Parker. Legalities.
07:25Start from the beginning.
07:26Look, the Spider-Man rights are one nasty tangled web. While Sony technically owns the character,
07:32they also have a deal to share him with Marvel Studios in order to make those giant MCU tentpole
07:38summer blockbusters. While the MCU can do Spider-Man movies, the deal prevents Disney from using Spider-Man
07:44in live action TV. And while Sony owns the rights, they also seem to have some restrictions because
07:49of the deal. Just look at the Spider-Man adjacent villain movies they made.
08:04That's an entire freaking universe centered on characters connected to Spider-Man,
08:09but the wall crawler doesn't show up in them. Heck, even the show's name being Spider-Noir instead
08:14of Spider-Man Noir suggests that there's some sort of red tape going on behind the scene. Regardless,
08:19we don't know all the ins and outs, but what we know for certain is that Ben Reilly is taking
08:24the
08:24reins now. The cast. The star of this show is Nicolas Cage who will be bringing Ben Reilly to life.
08:30Cage also portrayed Spider-Man Noir in Into the Spider-Verse, so this role is hardly a new one for
08:35him. That being said, this live action portrayal is not the same version as the animated counterpart.
08:48Interestingly, this show is also going to be Nicolas Cage's first major television role. While he's
08:53obviously an established cinematic titan, it's going to be exciting to see how he takes the television.
08:58Joining Cage are a whole slew of other names. Brendan Gleeson, for example, is attached to portray
09:03Silvermane, a cutthroat mob boss who has a swarded history with Ben. He won't be the only thorn in Ben's
09:15side, though, as Jack Huston is portraying Flint Marco, aka the Sandman. Several other villains are
09:20sure to be in the mix, too, like Electro and a character who could potentially be Molten Man.
09:25We also have Lee Jun Lee as the femme fatale Cat Hardy, a new spin on Felicia Hardy, aka the
09:31Black Cat.
09:31There's a solid chance she'll be Ben's love interest or at least have a history with him.
09:39To round out the cast, Ben's close colleague Robbie Roberson will be played by Lamorne Morris,
09:44while Karen Rodriguez will play Ben's assistant Janet. Small screen, big impact.
09:49Let's take a pause from stating all the facts to really digest what's happening here,
09:54because sometimes we can get lost in the sauce. This is a live action Spider-Man TV show. Do you
09:59know
10:00how long it's been since that's happened? Here's a hint, so long ago that Jimmy Carter was the
10:05president. Jokes aside, it really has been a while. Way back in 1977, CBS had The Amazing Spider-Man.
10:19This TV show, not to be confused with Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, starred Nicholas Hammond
10:24as Peter Parker. The show only lasted about two years and had some success in the ratings initially,
10:29but eventually dwindled in support and was later canceled. There was also the Japanese Spider-Man
10:34show. It starred Kasuke Kayama as Takuya Yamashiro and was happening around the same time as the CBS
10:41series. The Japanese version was truly bonkers though. Like seriously, Japanese Spider-Man
10:46called himself an emissary of hell and piloted a giant robot to fight monsters. It's crazy pants.
10:53We're probably not going to see Nicolas Cage do any of that, but we are going to get a Spidey
10:58whose adventures are tailor-made to be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. It's been literally
11:02decades since we've had a live-action Spider-Man TV show, so this is kind of a big deal. Sure,
11:08there's some legal caveats with Spider-Noir, but don't get it twisted. This is Spider-Man at the
11:13end of the day and that's awesome. Spider-Noir releases all eight episodes on Prime Video on
11:26May 27th. Then, just a little over two months later in the summer, we get Spider-Man brand new day
11:32on
11:32July 31st. Plus, a little later in the fall, we'll be treated to a season two of your friendly
11:44neighborhood Spider-Man. Are you recognizing a pattern here? We're getting gifted back to back
11:48to back Spider-Man stories, all crazy in their own ways. So many different versions of our favorite
11:54wall crawler are within a couple of months of each other means we're in for a serious treat.
12:002026 is shaping up to be the year of Spider-Man and the hype train starts with Spider-Noir.
12:05So what are you waiting for?
12:17Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album current, EDM Transformed.
12:23Check out the full track and album below.
12:40The future of Sony's Spider-Stories. We're at a really interesting point in time in comic book media
12:46and a show like Spider-Noir getting made is proof of that. It's too early to tell what will happen,
12:51but Sony has the potential to make some major moves depending on how this project plays out.
12:56All you can do is fight to keep the chaos from your door.
12:59Phil Lord even suggests that Spider-Noir could continue into a second season.
13:03But what about beyond this hopefully detective drama?
13:06Well, perhaps Sony could embrace utilizing more of their Spider-Characters.
13:10No, we don't mean making Madam Web 2 or resurrecting El Mirto.
13:14What we mean is telling more out there stories with fan favorite web sleeves.
13:18Who knows? Maybe we can get a live action Spider-Man 2099 series,
13:22or a live action adaptation of superior Spider-Man.
13:25Are you dare cage me?
13:27Hey, Ben Reilly's clone brother Kane would be ripe for a primetime program.
13:32It's fun to speculate on the future, but regardless of what they do,
13:35let's get back to what's happening right now.
13:37Spider-Man Noir. The series promises to be a bold, action-packed,
13:42and fresh take on Spider-Man, and we're here for it.
13:44He's the best show in town.
13:46Are you excited for Spider-Noir? Let us know if you're watching it in black and white or in color,
13:50and what other Spider-Man related projects do you think Sony should make?
13:54Swing down in the comments and let us know.
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