Spider-Noir was unceremoniously cancelled by Amazon earlier this year just weeks after the release of the first season. For most, this was bad news. However, star Nicolas Cage sees the silver lining, as he worried his "high-risk" performance as web-slinging P.I. Ben Reilly could "wear out its welcome."
Speaking to IGN on the Madden red carpet, Cage reiterated that he's happy to leave Reilly and the world of Spider-Noir behind, in part because he considers it a "perfect season" of TV, and in part because of the possibility that his performance could get tired.
"You never want to get stuck repeating a character and wear out your welcome," Cage said. "Ben Reilly is so idiosyncratic. I was doing something that was pretty high-risk, tightrope stuff. You do that season 2, season 3, and you could really wear out your welcome. So when they didn't pick it up, I was like, 'Phew!' I love that character, and I love that season, and it will always be there, and it will always be fresh."
Cage has only reprised characters a handful of times across his career, and seems far more comfortable breaking new ground, which is how you end up with off-beat performances like Ben Reilly in the first place, which Cage described as a "Spider pretending to be a person." Genius.
There are other, more material, reasons why Spider-Noir was cancelled, despite racking up 11 Emmy nominations. It was reportedly extremely expensive, costing in the region of $400 million for 8 episodes, making it one of the most expensive seasons of TV ever. The show's solid – but not spectacular – viewership simply wasn't enough to justify the expense. Cage also refused to sign an A.I. waiver while making Spider-Noir, and doesn't think he'll work with Amazon again as a result.
The show was well-received, hitting 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, though our own Spider-Noir review was more measured, awarding the alt-universe Spider-Man show 3.5 stars. Before it was cancelled, showrunner Oren Uziel teased that season 2 could see Ben Reilly in the midst of World War 2: "Obviously, as time passes from 1933, we’re heading towards not just trouble in the financial markets in New York, but also a geopolitical struggle that would be an amazing canvas for any future storytelling."
Spider-Noir may be no more in live-action, but don't be surprised to see him pop up in next year's Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. And Amazon reportedly has four more Spider-Man variant shows in development, so there should be plenty of web-swinging action on screen again soon enough.
Spider-Noir is streaming now on Prime Video. Look ahead with our guide on all the most exciting upcoming shows left in the year.
