Nicolas Cage’s new live-action series, Spider-Noir, based on Marvel’s Spider-Man Noir comic book series, is getting mostly positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics.
Cage, of course, played Spider-Man Noir in a voice role in the 2018 Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. In the new live-action series, however, Cage makes his television debut as Ben Reilly, a down-on-his-luck private investigator in New York in the 1930s who is forced to assume his past identity as The Spider — the city’s only superhero — after a deep personal tragedy.
Developed by Oren Uziel and executive produced by Into the Spider-Verse’s producers (and Project Hail Mary directors) Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Spider-Noir also stars Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Jack Huston, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola and Brendan Gleeson.
All eight episodes of Spider-Noir will be released on Monday on MGM+’s linear broadcast channel (on cable, not the MGM+ streaming app), and on streaming on Wednesday on Prime Video. The series will be available to viewers in both “Authentic Black and White” and “True-Hue Full Color,” according to Prime Video.
As of Sunday, Spider-Noir has earned a 91% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 41 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus reads, “Nicolas Cage delivers a gloriously pulpy performance that makes every quip and thwip crackle in Spider-Noir — a dazzling, stylish blend of hard-boiled storytelling and pure comic book verve.”
RT’s Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score are still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Spider-Noir’?
Alex Godfrey of Empire Magazine is among the top critics on RT who gives Spider-Noir a “fresh” score. Godfrey writes in his review summary, “A big swing — oh, yes — that pays off from start to finish, this is an irresistible concoction, an utterly insane stew that somehow makes perfect sense. It is total joy.”
Bob Strauss of The Wrap is also wrapped up in the wonder of the screen adaptation of the comic book, writing in his “fresh” take on the series on RT, “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.”
Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence is also impressed by the series, writing in her “fresh” RT review summary, “No matter how you choose to watch it, Spider-Noir hews closely to the familiar tropes of the detective tale, but it never feels like parody. It just feels like the answer to the question ‘What if someone made a 1930s noir about a P.I. with spider powers?’”
Also giving Spider-Noir a “fresh” score on RT is Nick Schager of the Daily Beast, who writes, “Stylish, amusing, and action-packed, it’s a stand-alone tale of spectacular proportions.”
Aramide Tinubu of Variety is among the top critics on RT who gives the series a “rotten” score, writing in her review summary, “Though the series has a solid cast and some sparkling depictions of a bygone era, Spider-Noir is all style and very little substance.”
Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter isn’t a fan of the series, either. Feinberg writes in his “rotten” RT summary, “Created for TV by Oren Uziel, the story of Spider-Noir is frustratingly dull, cribbing the barest of bones from various vintage gumshoe dramas and adding precious little.”
Also deeming the series “rotten” on RT is William Hughes of AV Club, who writes, “The best you can say about Spider-Noir is that it’s a noble, but ultimately failed experiment. Its lead clearly set out to create a character who didn’t feel entirely like a human being; what he got was one that never really feels like a person.
All eight episodes of Spider-Noir will be released first on MGM+’s linear broadcast channel on Monday before debuting on Prime Video on Wednesday.
