Soon, fans can look forward to a new series about Spider-Man, but this version of the hero is not as heroic as one would expect from Peter Parker in Marvel films. This Spider-Man is a drunken guy who deals with villains much more brutally.
On Prime Video, a new superhero series will premiere on May 27, 2026. With Spider-Noir, the story of an alternate version of the spider hero will be shown. He has already been seen in the two Spiderverse animated films, but for the first time, he will be portrayed in a live-action series.
He will be played by Nicolas Cage. The first trailer already shows: He is very different from Peter Parker. He is brutal, likes to drink, and is less of a heroic superhero, more of an anti-hero. Looking at his backstory from the comics, it’s not surprising.
Here you can watch the trailer:
As always, Uncle Ben must die
Who is Spider-Man Noir? In the comic Spider-Man Noir No. 1, the new variant of the web-slinger was introduced for the first time. In the comic, he is the human Peter B. Parker from Earth-90214. The big difference from the known era is that superheroes (and villains) operate here in the 1920s and 1930s.
As in almost every version of the hero, Uncle Ben also died here. His death was initiated by Norman Osborn, who has risen as the circus attraction Goblin
to become a crime boss. One day, Peter encountered criminals stealing antiques after receiving a tip that was actually not meant for him.
One of them was a spider idol that broke and released several spiders. One of them bit Peter, and the rest you know: He gained powers and became the hero. His costume is based on a uniform from World War I belonging to his uncle.
Up to this point, everything sounds like the classic Spider-Man story, just in a different time. But the Noir universe is a much darker place. Inspired by the genre film noir
, Spider-Man Noir operates in a more hopeless world. There are no classic heroes, and everyone operates in gray areas. The genre was particularly prevalent in the 1950s and depicted characters who could not cope with their traumas.
This Spider-Man is also not the friendly neighbor who adheres to heroic rules. He operates from the shadows, likes to drink (as seen in the trailer), brutally attacks his opponents, and does not shy away from killing. For example, he killed the Vulture, who was a cannibal here, but was also criticized by his aunt for it.
Spider-Man Noir thus struggles in the comics with his own morality in a world that apparently only holds corruption, death, and pessimism.
The new version has a different name
Is the Spider-Man from the new series also Peter Parker? Those who pay close attention will notice: The character played by Nicolas Cage is called Ben Reilly, not Peter Parker. Ben Reilly is a clone of Spider-Man in the known universe. He probably won’t be a clone in the new series, but showrunner Oren Uziel explains in an interview with Esquire why they changed the name to Ben Reilly:
Peter Parker feels very much like a typical high school student. Boyish. On the way up. […] This character is very different from the Peter Parker from the films. He is older and jaded and does not hesitate to punch a guy in the face when drunk.
The new Spider-Noir is older and, according to Uziel, significantly marked by his past. The trailer also suggests that he does not get his powers from a kind of idol. Clips from possible experiments are shown. It seems that the powers also make him more impulsive and insane. Hence, Spider-Noir and not Spider-Man Noir.
Thus, he resembles characters like Max Payne, who, plagued by their own past, try to drown their problems in violence or alcohol.
The new series seems to be a loose adaptation of the comics. The series is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on May 27. Until then, you should check out the latest series from Marvel: I binge-watched the new Marvel series in one day while I was sick in bed, but don’t tell my boss
