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| Image Credit: Sony Pictures |
In addition to explaining the difference between the two versions of Spider-Man Noir—since the live-action TV series starring Nicolas Cage will be released on Prime Video on May 27 in both black-and-white and color—we want to answer a question that many Spider-Man fans are surely asking themselves... Is Spider-Man Noir connected to the Spider-Verse animated films? The answer to this question might just surprise you...
Spider-Man Noir has arrived, starring Nicolas Cage as an unlucky detective who no longer wants to use his spider powers... until a case lands in his lap and forces him, more or less, to don the mask he had decided to abandon.
In fact, this isn’t the first time Nicolas Cage has played Spider-Man Noir, since—in addition to the Marvel Comics—we first encountered this black-and-white version of the famous superhero in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: For that film, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Nicolas Cage voiced Spider-Man Noir, a role he reprised in the sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and will reprise in the third and final film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, coming in June 2027.
Furthermore, the production team behind the Spider-Man Noir TV series is the same as that of the Spider-Verse animated films, with the Sony Animation production team led by directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and executive Amy Pascal. Does this mean that the new Prime Video series is connected to Sony’s Spider-Verse movies? The answer is… no, the animated Spider-Man Noir and the live-action Spider-Noir are two different characters. Both are played by Nicolas Cage, but the live-action small-screen version is a distinct variation from the animated version we saw on the big screen.
In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Kingpin builds a particle accelerator with the intent of kidnapping alternate versions of his wife, Vanessa, and his son, Richard, from another universe. Because of the accelerator, Miles Morales finds himself meeting various Spider-Men from different universes. One of them is Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man Noir. Now, although Nicolas Cage voices Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and will reprise the role in Beyond the Spider-Verse... Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Noir are two completely different characters. To further distinguish them, for example, in the TV series Nicolas Cage plays Ben Reilly, not Peter Parker.
In the comics, Ben Reilly is a clone of Peter Parker and becomes Scarlet Spider. Additionally, in the Spider-Man Noir comics, Spider-Man Noir is a young adult version of Peter Parker set in 1930s New York, battling Norman Osborn/Goblin during the Great Depression. But before you get confused: Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a variant of Peter Parker, while the Spidey in the live-action series Spider-Noir is a variant of Spider-Man named Ben Reilly.
To simplify things, here’s what the creators had to say: “It’s a different version of the same character, even though the voice is still Nicolas Cage’s,” showrunner Oren Uziel told Empire. “This series isn’t a sequel to Into the Spider-Verse. It’s not a spin-off; there’s no connection. Once Phil and Chris introduced the idea of the multiverse, I think we can take inspiration from that and rework the concept."
Spider-Noir debuts on MGM Plus in the U.S. today, May 25, before arriving on Prime Video worldwide on May 27.
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