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My hopes were high for the new Prime Video superhero series Spider-Black, taking it all in amazing carts. But I was also afraid. Can the actual series live up to the hype?
As it turns out, yes, it can. Spider-Black is a success, mixing fast-paced storytelling, brilliant animation and design, and clever dialogue into a fun, loving homage to a magical time of yore.
(Some spoilers below, but nothing major to reveal.)
Marvel Comics was created his “noir” line in 2009, reinterpreting famous Marvel characters in another universe, often set during the Great Depression in the US. Kind of Spider-Black character, voiced by Nicolas Cage, appeared briefly in the cartoon, Spider-Man: Entering the Spider-Verse (2018) and Across the Spider-Verse (2023). (They should repeat the next section Above the Spider-Verse.) Cage’s image was so compelling that we now have an entire series built around it.
Co-showrunner (with Steve Lightfoot) Oren Uziel is a movie buff, so Marvel naturally liked him. The live action series is set in 1930s Depression-era New York, but the spider hero isn’t Peter Parker. Uziel thought Parker’s character was more in line with an all-boys high school, which didn’t really fit the noir vibe. So Cage plays Ben Reilly, a hotshot PI with a secret history, The Spider.
Ben Reilly is sober after losing his girlfriend, Ruby, five years earlier. Bitter, quiet, and a heavy drinker, he’s not making money with his PI business, with the help of his secretary Janet (Karen Rodriguez). And he gets rid of his reporter friend Robbie (Lamorne Morris) to encourage the revival of The Spider. Of course, this will help revive Robbie’s famous career, but after The Spider is gone, the ruthless Irish boss Finn Byrne, aka Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson), has a big problem in New York City – not just the retail business, but the media, politicians, and business owners.
Behavior is important
Nicolas Cage directs Humphrey Bogart as Ben Reilly, PI-aka The Spider.
Prime Video
Nicolas Cage directs 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 founder of Ben’s business.
Prime Video
Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the founder of Ben’s business.
Prime Video
Ben in full Spider mode.
Prime Video
Secretary Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez) is the founder of Ben’s business.
Prime Video
Best friend Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris) is desperate to get his job back at the Daily Bugle.
Sultry nightclub singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li) is a dangerous distraction.
Prime Video
Brendan Gleeson plays gang boss Finn Byrne, aka Silvermane.
Lukas Haas plays Winston, Silvermane’s right-hand man.
Flint Marko (Jack Huston) and Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) have a genetic mutation that gives them special powers but is also killing them.
Flint doesn’t get on too well with another man on the verge of destruction, Dirk Leyden (Andrew Lewis Caldwell), who calls himself Megawatt.
Events conspire to bring Ben back into action. He’s hired to investigate a criminal named Addison (Jack Mikesell), who has super pyrokinetic powers. And Addison is not alone. Silvermane’s protector, Flint Marko (Jack Huston), is slowly transforming into Sandman, while his friend Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola) is becoming Tombstone. Then there is the egomaniacal Leyden, who calls himself Megawatt because he can absorb and emit electricity.
