Nicolas Cage stars asBen Reilly / The Spider, withLamorne Morris,Li Jun Li, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola,Jack Huston, andBrendan Gleeson also starring. The series was revealed to be in development in February 2023, with Uziel involved, and Lightfoot was hired that December. Cage's casting was confirmed in May 2024, when the series was ordered and titledNoir before it was retitledSpider-Noir that July. Filming took place inLos Angeles from August 2024 to March 2025.
Spider-Noir is set to premiere on May 25, 2026, on MGM+ in the United States, and will consist of eight episodes. All episodes will be released globally on Prime Video on May 27. The series is being released in both black-and-white and color versions.
Ben Reilly, an aging,down on his luck private investigator, grapples with his past life as the only superhero in 1930s New York City,the Spider. When an exceptional case comes his way, Reilly must become the Spider once more.[1]
Nicolas Cage asBen Reilly /The Spider: An older, grizzled version ofSpider-Man who is adown on his luck private investigator and superhero from analternate world based on 1930s New York City.[2][3][4] He returns to being the Spider after stepping away from the role years prior because of a personal tragedy.[5] Executive producersPhil Lord and Christopher Miller described Reilly as "older and jaded, and not afraid to punch a guy in the face drunkenly" and someone who "already had hisChinatown disillusionment moment" many years prior, with co-showrunnerOren Uziel saying despite trying to move beyond his past, it keeps returning "to haunt him".[4] Cage approached his performance as "70 percentHumphrey Bogart, and 30 percentBugs Bunny", believing Reilly was "a spider trying tocosplay as a human". He also looked at actorsJames Cagney andEdward G. Robinson for the performance. Cage was inspired by Bogart's performance in the filmThe Big Sleep (1946) when Reilly goes undercover.[6]
Lamorne Morris asRobbie Robertson: Reilly's friend and a hard-working freelance journalist who pursues riskier stories to garner attention and progress his career.[7][4] Uziel said Robertson is optimistic and "thinks he's lucky, and it's all going to work out" with his investigations, compared to Reilly who is the opposite and a cynic.[4]
Karen Rodriguez as Janet: Reilly's secretary and fellow investigator. Uziel likened Janet to Effie from the filmThe Maltese Falcon (1941), a character "that can be helpful, that the P.I. can lean on, that can be hard on him, but loves him".[4]
Abraham Popoola as aWorld War I veteran who is searching for an "opportunity to get ahead"[8]
Brendan Gleeson asSilvermane: A New York mob boss who has been the target of multiple assassination attempts and has connections to Reilly's past.[4] Gleeson described the character as aphilosopher with "a drone-eye view" who is equally dangerous.[9]
The series will consist of eight episodes,[17] all of which will be released onPrime Video on May 27, 2026.[1]Nzingha Stewart also served as a director of the series.[18] Additional writers include: Megan Liao and co-showrunnerSteve Lightfoot co-writing the third episode;Tori Sampson writing the fourth; Jennifer Frazin and Lightfoot co-writing the fifth; Jack Henderson writing the sixth; Bruce Marshall Romans writing the seventh; and Uziel writing the eighth.[16]
Sony Pictures Entertainment chairmanTony Vinciquerra stated in March 2019 that Sony'sshared universe ofSpider-Man–related properties,[19] known asSony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU),[20] would be expanding to television with a set ofMarvel Comics projects developed bySony Pictures Television. The studio was "essentially internally auditioning" characters from the 900 it could access to decide which medium they would appear in.[19] After their work on Sony's animated filmSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018),Phil Lord and Christopher Miller signed their production company Lord Miller Productions to an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television in April 2019 to develop multiple television series for the studio, including their Marvel-based series, which could potentially include characters fromInto the Spider-Verse as well as live-action properties. Select projects would be produced in conjunction withAmy Pascal, a frequent producer of theSpider-Man films,[21] with the intention for Lord and Miller toreboot the Spider-Man property for television.[22] By September 2020, Sony was in talks withPrime Video for the latter to be the streaming distributor for Sony's "suite" of Marvel-based television series.[23]
Sony Pictures Television was revealed in February 2023 to be developing a television series based on theSpider-Man Noir character forMGM+ and Prime Video viaAmazon MGM Studios.[2][3] Miller believed a series based on the character was "the biggest no-brainer of all time".Oren Uziel, a close friend of Lord and Miller's who was a fan offilm noir,[4] was writing for the series and developing it with fellow executive producers Lord, Miller, and Pascal through their production companiesLord Miller Productions andPascal Pictures.[2][24] Miller said Uziel had a "perfect" take on approaching the series.[4] In December, Amazon hiredSteve Lightfoot, who was theshowrunner of theMarvel Television seriesThe Punisher (2017–2019), to serve as co-showrunner and an executive producer alongside Uziel;[25] the two are credited as the series' developers along with Lord, Miller, and Pascal.[1]
Amazon announced at itsupfronts presentation in May 2024 that the series was ordered and titledNoir, and thatHarry Bradbeer had joined as an executive producer and to direct the first two episodes.[3]Nzingha Stewart served as another director.[18] Additional executive producers are Aditya Sood and Dan Shear of Lord Miller,[11][24] starNicolas Cage, and Pavlina Hatoupis.[1] In July, the series was retitledSpider-Noir to better highlight its connections to the Spider-Man universe,[7] and was revealed to consist of eight 45-minute long episodes.[17] Lesley Goldberg atPuck reported in August 2024 that Sony was not expected to renew its overall deal with Lord and Miller after the duo disagreed with the studio on the series' budget.[22] By the end of 2024, Sony was reported to no longer be developing further films for its franchise at that time and was instead focusing on other projects, such asSpider-Noir.[26]
Christopher Chen, Megan Liao,Tori Sampson, Jennifer Frazin, Jack Henderson, and Bruce Marshall Romans served as writers on the series, alongside Uziel and Lightfoot;[16] Romans previously worked with Lightfoot onThe Punisher.[27] Miller said in May 2023 that development, along with thewriters' room, was put on hold because of the2023 Writers Guild of America strike that began earlier that month, and that work would resume after the strike concluded;[28][29] the writers' strike ended in late September 2023.[30]
Spider-Noir is set in analternate world based on 1930s New York City,[2][3] with Sony Pictures Television president Katherine Pope describing the series as a reimagining of the Spider-Man Noir character in the SSU.[3] Upon the reveal of the series' development,Variety reported that it would be set in its own universe and that the series would focus on a different main character rather thanPeter Parker, who is the identity of Spider-Man Noir in the comics.[2] The main character is known asBen Reilly, the name of a separate character in the comics who is a clone of Peter Parker and becomes theScarlet Spider. The Reilly inSpider-Noir is not known as "Spider-Noir" rather "The Spider" as a way to harken back to some of the early crimefighters in comics such as theSpirit andThe Shadow. Uziel said one of the reasons for changing the name of the character from Parker to Reilly was to better fit with the series' noir tone, saying that "Peter Parker feels very synonymous with a high school kid. Boyish." Lord and Miller also said there were additional narrative reasons for changing the name that would be addressed in the series,[4] while Cage saidSpider-Noir would explain why Reilly "talks the way he talks" beyond "just mashing the flavors of 1930s film performance and Marvel iconography".[6]
Spider-Noir marks actorNicolas Cage's first lead role in a television series.
Lord and Miller said in May 2023 that there was potential for Nicolas Cage to portray Spider-Man Noir in the series after he previously voiced a version of the character inSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[28] Cage was in talks for the role by February 2024,[31] and was confirmed to star by May as Ben Reilly / The Spider.[3][4] In July 2024, several actors were cast in the series, includingLamorne Morris asRobbie Robertson,[7]Brendan Gleeson asSilvermane,[32][4]Li Jun Li asCat Hardy,[33][4] and Abraham Popoola.[8] Gleeson's casting was confirmed in September,[34] whenJack Huston and Karen Rodriguez joined the cast as series regulars asFlint Marko and Janet, respectively.[35][36][4] Also that month,Lukas Haas,Cameron Britton,Cary Christopher,Michael Kostroff,Scott MacArthur, Joe Massingill, Whitney Rice, andAmanda Schull were all cast in undisclosed recurring roles,[11] with Haas's character working for Gleeson's.[10]Andrew Lewis Caldwell was cast to recur in the series in November,[12] followed byAmy Aquino andAndrew Robinson joining in February 2025,[13] and the next month, Kai Caster had joined for a guest role, which was said to be connected to another character in the series.[14]
Trayce Field served as the costume designer, after previously designing theProwler super suit worn byDonald Glover for a live-action sequence in the animated filmSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023),[37] while Warren Alan Young was the production designer, after working on the Marvel Television seriesRunaways (2017–2019).[38]
Tirsa Hackshaw,Eric Kissack, and Jennifer Barbot serve as the series' editors;[18][43][44] Hacksaw previously worked with Lightfoot onThe Punisher.[18]
The series was created for release in bothblack-and-white and color. To achieve the two versions, on-set footage was captured digitally to then be split and processed separately. The team coined the term "True-Hue" to refer to how they went about creating theirTechnicolor-like color version, with Cage saying that version was made to look "super saturated" and Uziel noting it was as if the black and white film had been colorized.[4] Cage likened the style of the color version to the paintingNighthawks (1942) byEdward Hopper.[6]Anthony Breznican atEsquire felt each version resulted in different vibes for the series, "with the color version veering more toward the lighthearted comic-strip crime capers ofDick Tracy, while the black and white conjures the sinister moral abyss ofthe novels ofRaymond Chandler".[4]
During Amazon'supfronts presentation in May 2025, a promotional first-look picture of Cage in costume as Spider-Man Noir was unveiled. Jordan Moreau ofVariety described the costume as "iconic" and stylistically similar to the version worn by the character in the animatedSpider-Verse films.[24] Rosy Cordero atDeadline Hollywood described the teaser as "moody".[15] The first trailer was released on February 12, 2026, in both black-and-white and color. It featured the tagline "With no power, comes no responsibility",[46] a "cheeky riff" on the phrase "With great power comes great responsibility" associated with Spider-Man.[47]
The Spider, as seen in the "Authentic Black and White" release (top) and the "True-Hue Full Color" release (bottom).
Spider-Noir is set to premiere in the United States onMGM+ on May 25, 2026.[1] The series will consist of eight episodes,[17] and will be released globally, including in the United States, in its entirety on May 27 onPrime Video.[1][48]Spider-Noir will be released in both ablack-and-white and a fully colored version,[24] marketed as "Authentic Black and White" and "True-Hue Full Color", respectively.[46] Cage hoped the dual release would inspire audiences to become interested in early black and white noir films to gain an appreciation of them as an art form.[4]
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