A marvelous mesh of style, homage and deconstruction, “Spider-Noir” is the year’s top TV treat so far. Showrunner Oren Uziel has developed an obscure Marvel property into a genre mash-up that quickly establishes its own distinct attitude, then uses it to bring new energy to worn out hardboiled detective, superhero and horror movie conventions.
All while looking great, in your choice of rich vintage color or shimmering/shadowy black-and-white. All television should be this much, well-done fun.
Glimpsed in some animated TV shows and the “Spider-Verse” movies, we finally find out who the fedora-wearing, wall-crawling 1930s crimefighter really is in MGM+ and Prime Video’s live-action series. He’s not the alternate universe Peter Parker from Marvel’s oddball “Spider-Man Noir” comic books. Much better, he’s private eye Ben Reilly (no relation to the comics’ clone of the same name), and incalculably better than that, he’s played by Nicolas Cage.
Avid superhero fan and consummate screen weirdo Cage infamously came this close to getting cast as Superman years ago. For this project, he brings a mature eccentricity and true aficionado’s delight to playing trench-coated hero The Spider, even as his alter ego performance is awash in Bogartian regret and reluctance. Ben, the other dimension New York’s only powered crimefighter in the 1920s, retired from web-slinging after failing to save the love of his life from a watery death.
“Ruby once told me that with great power comes great responsibility,” Cage says in a cynical voiceover, one of the show’s several takedowns of the “Spider-Man” franchise’s signature, overused platitude. “Well, she was the greatest responsibility I ever had, and I failed her.”
Now drinking too much and not catching enough cheating spouses to pay his loyal — and of course, sassy — secretary Janet (“The Hunting Wives’” Karen Rodriguez), Ben is inevitably pulled back into Spider-duty when a lineup of other supes monstrously manifests. Most of those guys also encounter the city’s bootlegging kingpin Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson, striking some unmistakable Vincent D’Onofrio poses as he builds-out the sadistic, pragmatic crime boss with an unapologetic Irish brogue and IRA-style ruthlessness).
No man’s power, super or not, can shield them from the fatale charms of Cat Hardy, owner and topline act of The Alcove speakeasy, whose way with torch songs and clingy high fashions command every male’s gaze. Li Jun Li, a long way from her hardworking “Sinners” storekeeper, excels at sexy slinking and delivering wry comebacks in ways Barbara Stanwyck might envy, even when that supposedly sharp dialogue rings too phony to be clever.
“If you have something to say, say it. It’s too early for subtext,” said no dame in no era (nor parallel universe) ever. But Li makes lines like that work as well as humanly possible. More crucially, the actress really gets Cat’s loving nature across, so steely and true that it makes you forgive her betrayals without feeling like a total chump.
She might bring mopey Ben back to life or be the cause of his death. Cage gives the impression that he can handle either outcome, but who knows? Ben uses wacky voices and goofball impersonations in his investigative work — if he were alive, Edward G. Robinson could have a case for trademark infringement. It’s a performance feast for Cage fans, but also keeps the heartbroken gumshoe’s true feelings from ensnaring the series in webs of bathos.
Speaking of the sticky stuff, Spider uses the character’s key weapon like a beanbag gun, different from other Spidey shows and often with a Buster Keatonish slapstick edge. This does not diminish the gravity-defying brutality of fight scenes in the least.
And the goop looks great sticking to the brownstone walls and art deco arches that establish the series’ period setting. Grungy allies, neon-sliced streets and Dutch-tilted interiors are gorgeous in both the early Technicolor hues lovingly recreated for the colorized version and the light-sculpted monochrome lensing, which is especially suited for fire, sand and wide-angle distortion. The episodes’ cinematographers are some of the best in the business — Darran Tiernan, fresh off such similar TV triumphs as “The Penguin” and “Perry Mason,” and longtime David Lynch collaborator Peter Deming — and it shows.
Costumer Trayce Gigi Field’s ingenuity doesn’t stop with the Spider’s glowing goggle-eyed ski mask or Cat’s all-(funny) business suits and dazzling dresses; I was particularly taken by her open-shouldered gown that’s held up by a giant felt bird.
Lamorne Morris, who plays Ben’s old pal and secret identity secret-keeper Robbie Robinson, is almost exclusively enwrapped in the most lusciously colored and constructed three-piece suits of the era. William Powell never dressed so well.
How Robbie affords his wardrobe on a scrambling freelance reporter’s budget is anybody’s guess. The brash journalist desperately wants his old staff job back at — wait for it — The Daily Bugle.
Yes, the same paper that, come the 1960s, employed Peter Parker and demonized Spider-Man. There are lots of coy, enjoyable Easter eggs for Spidey lovers throughout “Spider-Noir.” This Silver Age comics collector’s personal favorite is how the super-powered villains are introduced in the series in the same order that their roughly equivalent antagonists first appeared in early issues of “Amazing Spider-Man.” Yes, I know some of them are based on characters introduced long after The Lizard and Electro, but they sure look the parts. Anyway, geek heaven.
Cineastes will have equal fun spotting the show’s Hollywood influences and tributes, from an entire episode that recalls mad doctor B movies to a “Lady from Shanghai” mirror-shattering showdown. Those who love Great American Songbook standards won’t be disappointed either — Li can really warble — though they may not know what to make of Cage crooning a heartfelt ode to cheesecake.
His performance especially, but so much else in “Spider-Noir,” is drawn in such detail that watching the whole thing twice delivers more than just what things look like in color or black-and-white. The different formats are rewarding enough, but the care and minute specificity put into every aspect of the production makes each episode a multiple viewing must.
Whether your thing is old, existential crime movies, four-color fantasy magazines or TV that aspires to artistry as well as entertainment, “Spider-Noir” has the goods. And you’ll want to delve deep to find all the goodies. These include a ton of great lines beside the anachronistic, clunky ones.
“You’re right, she is hiding something,” Janet tells Ben after Cat’s first visit to their cruddy office. “All of the fun ones do.”
The same can be said for “Spider-Noir’s” abundant, diggable pleasures.
“Spider-Noir” premieres Monday on MGM+ and Wednesday on Prime Video in both color and black-and-white.