Spider-Noir has swung onto screens, the start of a very exciting summer for Spidey fans. Nicolas Cage reprises his role from the animated Spider-Verse movies (sort of) to play Ben Reilly – PI by day, web-slinger by night.
A pulpy, film noir-style caper, Spider-Noir is a pretty unique prospect for the superhero genre. Below, we've rounded up everything there is to know about Spider-Noir, from the reviews, release date, and trailer to the cast and a full breakdown of the plot. Hopefully, this show has what it takes to stand alongside the best Spider-Man movies of all time.
So, for all you need to know, head below. For even more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows, or get a full spoiler-filled breakdown of the season with our Spider-Noir ending explained.
Spider-Noir reviews
The reviews for Spider-Noir are glowing, with season 1 sitting at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Our own 3.5 star Spider-Noir review was a little more measured, describing the show as "a delightfully camp, low-stakes romp through 1930s New York City that proves Nicolas Cage is still cooler than all of us. Though it doesn't feel as big as most Marvel shows, or even Spider-Verse, and suffers from predictable plot turns that even the characters don't seem fazed by."
At the lower end of the scale, Vulture labelled Spider-Noir "another disposable exercise in IP maintenance," while acknowledging "it's best remembered as one more stop on the endlessly fascinating Nic Cage train before it barrels onto the next destination."
Indiewire agreed in their B+ review, noting that "Together, Cage and Spider-Noir are a perfect pair."
Spider-Noir release date
Spider-Noir released on May 25 on MGM+'s linear channel, and arrived on Prime Video just two days later on May 27. All episodes of Spider-Noir released on Prime Video at once, perfect for binge-watching. The series is available to stream in both black and white and full color.
Spider-Noir trailer
The first trailer for Spider-Noir released on February 12, 2026, showcasing Cage's performance as Ben Reilly/The Spider as he finds himself drawn into the tangled web of his own past. Keep your eyes peeled for some quick cameos from classic Spider-Man characters.
Spider-Noir cast
The Spider-Noir cast is led by Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly – not Peter Parker – a retired hero who was once known as The Spider, who left his double life behind after tragedy struck. Cage has described his performance as "70 percent Bogart, 30 percent Bugs Bunny."
Joining him as a potential ally or adversary is Li Jun Li, who plays lounge singer Cat Hardy. She is seemingly Spider-Noir's adaptation of Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, a highly skilled thief who has an on-again-off-again relationship with Spider-Man, even as the pair are often at odds.
Spider-Noir will be going toe-to-toe with Brendan Gleeson's crime boss Silvermane, another character adapted from comics. In mainstream Marvel continuity, Silvermane is an aging mob boss who attempts to achieve immortality by turning himself into a nigh-invincible cyborg.
Curiously, Jack Huston portrays Flint Marko, better known to Marvel Comics fans as The Sandman. Given the pulpy nature of Spider-Noir, it seems unlikely he'll have his usual shapeshifting powers. There's likely to be some other interpretation of his nickname, but anything is possible.
The rest of the cast so far is as follows:
- Nicolas Cage – Ben Reilly/Spider-Noir
- Li Jun Li – Cat Hardy
- Lamorne Morris – Robbie Robertson
- Brendan Gleeson – Silvermane
- Jack Huston – Flint Marko/Sandman
- Andrew Lewis Caldwell – Megawatt
- Karen Rodriguez – Janet
- Abraham Popoola – Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone
- Lukas Haas – Winston
- Cameron Britton – Donegal
Spider-Noir plot
Spider-Noir deals with Nicolas Cage's Ben Reilly, a private investigator, coming out of retirement as The Spider when dangerous gangster Silvermane puts New York City in jeopardy. Recruiting several superpowered heavies, including Sandman, Tombstone and Megawatt, Silvermane also enlists the PI services of Reilly, unaware he is The Spider, to sniff out a mole in his midst.
That mole is none other than Cat Hardy, a singer also in Silvermane's employ, who is in love with Marko. Reilly works this out very early in the season, but chooses not to hand her over to the mob boss, instead framing his second-in-command, Winston.
Eventually, we learn what is behind the spate of superpowered individuals running amok around New York – they were all subject to DNA-altering experiments during World War I, where Reilly himself was bitten by a Man-Spider and bestowed with Spider-powers. Unlike Reilly, however, the other affected individuals are slowly dying.
A scientist, Dr. Faber, has been working tirelessly in the years since the war to cure her son, who has been aging at a perilously rapid pace. To assist Faber in developing the cure, and potentially save Marko, Cat Hardy gives up Reilly after learning his secret identity. Reilly is captured and experimented on, and Faber successfully develops a cure, but is killed alongside her son by Megawatt, who has let the power go to his head (literally).
Reilly escapes with several vials of the cure, but is heartbroken over Hardy's betrayal, as they had planned to escape the city together. After a messy barroom brawl, Reilly is brought back down to Earth by his friend Robbie Robertson, who has been investigating Silvermane's supes in an effort to get his job back at the Bugle. Together, they manage to cure Tombstone, who leaves the city.
Everything comes to a head in Silvermane's lounge. After an amusing bit of subterfuge, where Robetson must briefly pretend to be The Spider, Reilly suits up as the web-slinger and takes on Megawatt and Sandman simultaneously. Following a drawn-out brawl where Megawatt turns on and almost kills Sandman by turning him into glass, The Spider stops Megawatt by throwing him in front of an elevated train.
There's one vial of the cure left... which Reilly gives to Marko, allowing him to live out the rest of his days with Hardy. Reilly, alone once again (his loyal assistant Karen excepted), resolves to continue fighting crime as The Spider.
Is Spider-Noir connected to the Spider-Verse movies?
Nicolas Cage voices Spider-Man Noir in the animated Spider-Verse movies, playing a key role in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. However, Cage's animated Spider-Man Noir is an alt-reality version of Peter Parker who exists in a noir-themed universe, while Cage's live-action version is not Peter at all, but Ben Reilly, who goes by The Spider in his hero guise. Ben Reilly is a name that comes from comics, where it's used by a clone of Peter Parker who becomes his own version of Spider-Man.
Prior to release, the show's creators explained that the use of the Ben Reilly name is to separate the character from Peter Parker, as Cage's Ben is much older and more hardboiled than the usual optimistic, youthful Peter.
The show confirms this – there is no crossover with the Spider-Verse movies in Spider-Noir, despite the involvement of Spider-Verse creatives Phil Lord and Chris Miller. However, there is a cheeky acknowledgement that there's a bigger 'verse out there in the opening narration, where Reilly recalls, "Somebody once asked me which universe this was," could that 'somebody' be a universe-hopped we've already met?
Spider-Noir is streaming now on Prime Video. For more, check out our guide to all the other new TV shows of the year that you need to know about. Or head on over to our guide on all the upcoming superhero movies and TV shows also set to release this year.
