I had high hopes for the new Prime Video superhero series Spider-Black, based on all of these amazing trailers. But I also had a little fear. Can the original series live up to the hype?
Apparently, it can be. Spider-Black is a triumph that combines a fast-paced story, engaging characters, gorgeous cinematography and production design, and elegant dialogue with a lot of fun, loving homage to a magical bygone era.
(There are some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)
Marvel comics was created The 2009 “noir” line reinterprets familiar Marvel characters in an alternate universe, usually set during the Great Depression in the United States. One version Spider-Black Voiced by Nicolas Cage, the character briefly appeared in the animated masterpiece, Spider-Man: To the Spider-Verse (2018) and In the spider verse (2023). (He is set to reprise that role in an upcoming film Beyond the Spider-Verse.) Cage’s portrayal was so compelling that we now have an entire series based around it.
Co-showrunner (with Steve Lightfoot) Oren Uziel is a fan of film noir, so the Marvel series naturally appealed to him. The live-action series is still set in 1930s Depression-era New York, but the spider isn’t superhero Peter Parker. Uziel thought that Parker’s character was too closely associated with high school type boys and it didn’t fit the dark mood. As such, Cage plays Spider-Man Ben Reilly, who has a secret superhero identity.
Ben Reilly retired his vigilante persona after losing his fiancee Ruby five years ago. Frustrated, tired and a heavy drinker, he barely makes ends meet in his PI business with the help of his spirited secretary Janet (Karen Rodriguez). And he rejects his reporter friend Robbie’s (Lamorne Morris) challenge to revive a Spider-Man movie. True, this would help revive Robbie’s brilliant career, but after Spider is gone, the ruthless Irish mob boss Finn Byrne, aka Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson) has strangled not only the bootlegging business in New York, but also the media, politicians and business owners.
Characters are important
Nicolas Cage channels Humphrey Bogart as Ben Reilly, PI – aka The Spider.
Prime Video
Nicolas Cage channels Humphrey Bogart as Ben Reilly, PI – aka The Spider.
Prime Video
Ben in full Spider mode.
Prime Video
Ben in full Spider mode.
Prime Video
Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the backbone of Ben’s business.
Prime Video
Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the backbone of Ben’s business.
Prime Video
Ben in full Spider mode.
Prime Video
Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the backbone of Ben’s business.
Prime Video
Best friend Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris) swings to get his Daily Bugle job back.
Sultry nightclub singer Cat Hardy (Lee Jun Lee) is a dangerous distraction.
Prime Video
Brendan Gleeson plays mob boss Finn Byrne, aka Silvermane.
Lucas Haas plays Winston, Silverman’s right-hand man.
Flint Marco (Jack Huston) and Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) have genetic mutations that give them special powers but also kill them.
Flint is less kind to Dirk Leyden (Andrew Lewis Caldwell), another inmate supervillain who calls himself Megawatt.
Circumstances conspire to push Ben into action again. He is hired to track down a criminal named Addison (Jack Mikesell), who turns out to have pyrokinetic superpowers. And Addison is not alone. Silverman’s bodyguard Flint Marco (Jack Huston) slowly turns into Sandman, and his friend Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) turns into a tombstone. Then there’s the egomaniacal Leyden, who calls himself Megawatt because he can absorb and release electricity.
