'Spider-Noir' Sticks the Landing

Nic Cage as Spider-Man in 1930s New York: Need I say more?

When I first saw that Amazon was giving Spider-Noir a live-action spin-off show starring Nicolas Cage as a classic private dick AND that it was being filmed in black and white (with the option for color), I could not have been more excited. It seemed to me, as I’m sure it seemed to many people, a match made in heaven. It had never occurred to me to want it, but I immediately felt that the annals of cinema could not be complete without it. I was so excited that I didn’t even begin to worry, as I usually would, that it could be a disappointment. Fortunately, it is not. Is it a perfect show? No. But it delivers pretty much exactly what the concept promised, a concept so outrageously unlikely, when you stop to think about it, that I simply feel lucky to live in a time when such a show is even possible. After I finished watching it, I did have second thoughts about its enduring value, but while watching Spider-Noir I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Cage himself is the star of the show and the eight-part series to some extent rides or falls on how much you like him as an actor. The idea is a passion-project for him, and he clearly relishes the opportunity to emulate idols such as Bogart and Cagney, while remaining uniquely himself. It seems obvious in hindsight that Cage would make a wonderfully quirky Noir detective, and the show is worth watching for him alone. This is not to say, however, that there are not other good performances as well. The show features a strong ensemble, including solid performances from Larmorne Morris as Robby Robinson, an out of luck reporter, and Li Jun Li as Cat, a nightclub singer. The actor who stole the show for me, though, was Brendon Gleeson as Silvermane. The Irish booze kingpin and principal villain dominates every scene he is in, even those he shares with Cage, and by the end I almost sympathized with him. He, of all the actors, seemed to me to deliver a performance which could survive in a more serious project.

The real star of the show, however, is the visuals. The production itself is nice, but the cinematography in particular is gorgeous, both in black and white and color. Obviously the black and white version is more unique and impressive because it takes a different kind of lighting and camera work, but I was impressed that the show had been created for both formats at the same time. Cage in an interview said that he and the director of photography, Darran Tiernan, wanted to make the color version look like an Edward Hopper painting, and there were moments when I could see it. The colors and textures of clothes, backgrounds, and sets are vibrant and are even more noticeable when contrasted with the B&W version and gives it a neo-noir look.

Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper

While the lush cinematography does the heaviest lifting in creating a 1930s atmosphere, I was also pleased to hear Bing Crosby and a few other period singers in the background, which mostly makes up for the glaringly modern song performed by Cat near the beginning of the first episode. The plot itself is fairly unremarkable, and even predictable. It hits many of the tropes you would expect from a noir film with surprise twists, negotiations, betrayals, and LOTS of smoking indoors. Many of the characters, too, could fit right into a 40s film, including Reilly, Silvermane and even Cat. The vintage illusion, however, was broken occasionally by characters like Reilly’s secretary Ruiz, who fills a traditional role but with a 21st century brand of sass one would not expect in say The Maltese Falcon.

As a Spider-Man show, Spider-Noir manages to incorporate many elements viewers might be familiar with from other Spider-Man movies and storylines – as George Lucas might say, it rhymes with other depictions of the characters. I myself came to it from the perspective of a fan of noir classics and Nicholas Cage rather than of Spider-Man, and for this reason I occasionally found myself wishing for less Spider and more Noir. As I said, the show has to balance both, but the need for balance did make me reflect on the difference between a genuine film-noir or even neo-noir, and a show like Spider-Noir, which is essentially a superhero show with a vintage flavor. I suppose it is to the credit of the show that I occasionally thought I was watching the former, or wished Nicolas Cage had simply made a Philip Marlow movie instead. It was a reminder that most superhero films are simply entertainment and not works of art; adding a noir lens does not change that reality.

A film may, like The Batman, successfully utilize noir elements in order to create a film which stands on its own. Spider-Noir perhaps runs the risk of leaning too heavily into genre as a gimmick, creating something which is unique and entertaining, but also not quite fish nor fowl. It has the sleek exterior of a golden-era Hollywood film, but when you peer under the hood, it lacks a film noir’s grim core. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be hard on Spider-Noir; I’m glad Cage got to do his thing, and as long as streaming studios are pumping out all kinds of experimental shows, I’m glad they finally made one which caters to me. The show promised to give me Nicolas Cage as a 1930s detective Spider-Man, and by golly it did, and I enjoyed it. The fact that it is not more than that ultimately cannot be held against it.

If you enjoy Nicolas Cage, classic Hollywood films, or Spider-Man, you are almost certain to like this show. Have fun, and if you are left at the end wanting more, just throw on The Big Sleep or Chinatown.