Spider-Noir

Entertainment Television
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Discussion specifically for the Sony Television Entertainment show, Spider-Noir on Amazon and MGM+. Starring Nicholas Cage as Benjamin Reilly/“The Spider”, it is a twist of the Spider-Man character and mythos in a noir film setting, in both black and white and optionally in color. It goes into the psychology of the character suffering from his powers, while Reilly has to stop the machinations of the mob boss Silvermane who has control over the city. In the meantime he tangles with the femme fatale “Cat” Hardy and a trio of supervillains such as The Sandman, Megawatt, Tombstone, and the Molten Man.

I have some opinions on this show, but it was overall very fun! Cage gets lots of cageisms in the show, acting like an absolute cartoon character which appealed to me. I love the “gangstas” and femme fatales and pulp comic characters, and this show was written to appeal to that audience.

I would say while it was filmed in black and white, it failed to apply cinematography, camera tricks, and make-up styles from back then to make it look properly noir. It also has the issue the 2013 Great Gatsby film had where there is contemporary music blended into it (though thankfully sparingly). So in terms of being authentically noir, they kinda miss the mark musically and visually. I would still watch it in black and white (I did), but also check out the color version too! There are times it looks visually stunning.

In terms of writing it’s different. I felt it was a breath of fresh air compared to other superhero projects these days. I really appreciate all the twists and turns the show takes and shows the main character doing actual private eye work and overall being a gruff morally dubious protagonist. (That and the main character of Reilly isn’t unlikeable unlike Batman: Caped Crusader, a similar project. Reilly is the driving force of the plot which is strangely underutilized in TV these days.) The “noir” part fits more with the writing than it does cinematography, which is really the saving grace of this show.

And besides some glaring anachronisms (the secretary in the show feels way too much like a modern woman) and presence of superpowers, the world visually looks correct and there’s a lot of attention to detail on all other aspects.

Edit: Also forgot to say this show is extremely funny, thanks to Nic Cage being allowed to be unhinged as he wants to. Perks to being executive producer of the show and pushing for it to be made, I guess!

But what do you guys think?

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I think it’ll be a hilarious time watching out of shape Nicolas Cage try to pretend he’s the same as the stunt actor doing all sorts of flips and physical shenanigans

If I ever actually watch it that is

Also Silvermane as the villain here is one of the choices of all time but I think it’ll work out. Black and white is definitely the way to go, because of the screencaps I’ve seen in color, the effects are real cheap looking and at the bare minimum the Sandman effects look way better without the color present.

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I’ve read at least the first 30 years of the Spider-Man comic books. He’s not precisely an unknown villain. I was actually happy to see him getting adapted, considering he’s the Kingpin’s rival mob boss in the comics before he becomes a cyborg. (Which they do not adapt the cyborg version in the show, sorry to say.) He has a storied history with the Spider-Man universe in itself, the first being the Stone Tablet saga in the later Stan Lee run and the Len Wein run of Amazing Spider-Man comics where he vies for control of crime in New York when the Kingpin retires. He is thwarted by the Green Goblin returning to take the position for himself, leading to Spider-Man having to intervene.

The real weird choice was Megawatt who is a nobody villain. I genuinely thought it was Electro but apparently not. Dumb because he has the same powers as Electro.

As for effects yeeeaaaaah. I think they blew the budget on the beautiful sets and costuming which, well, I’m not complaining for that part!

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My current headcanon for this show is that, despite everyone claiming it’s an alt universe to the MCU, I am choosing to believe it’s not despite everything saying contrary! (Let me have my fun!) Going off context in the show, it takes place in 1932, and they have a plotline about American POWs being experimented on by the Germans in WW1. Made me think it could have been an early version of HYDRA, and Captain America: The First Avenger takes place 9 years after this show. Perhaps that rogue science division of the Third Reich had roots even back in WW1?

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Too bad we can’t get a Rocketeer tie-in… man, that would be perfect for a one-off in this show.

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In the cultural zeitgeist, Silvermane is a complete unknown. He’s had no major depictions anywhere in decades and his appearances are almost always tied to futuristic tech and chasing the metaphorical fountain of youth. He’s a tricky character to pull off represented by an actor who looks nothing like him and without any presence in current culture.

But at least they would know well enough to give him a robot suit or somethi-

Aww bummer :frowning:

Well, hopefully they’re able to make him wok in spite of all that.

My guess is 1. they probably didn’t have the time to finagle the specific television show rights to Electro and 2. Electro is currently seen in the cultural zeitgeist as black, which probably would’ve rubbed most Amazon subscribers the wrong way to seen him “recast” as a fat white guy.

On that note, both with the structure of his skull and the completely lackluster makeup present, the casting choice for Tombstone is just disappointing. We have a very long (and even some rather recent) depictions of Tombstone showing a sunken-cheeked solidly grey complexion, and here he’s just some guy with forehead lines lamer than my actual real life scars.

btw this is me if u even care :backhand_index_pointing_right::backhand_index_pointing_left: :pleading_face:

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Hopefully if the show is renewed for another season more effort will be put into making the characters look like the characters they’re supposed to be (or I guess having their mutations progress so there’s an internal-logic-consistent reason for that to happen). You could even get away with cyborg Silvermane if you said the experimental mutations affecting his minions were also detrimentally impacting his health.

I mean, there’s no reason this couldn’t be an alternate universe that shares the same sequence of events as the main one up to a certain point

You’re a Marvel fan you’re not allowed to have fun :triumph:

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Tombstone was definitely disappointing in the show. He’s not even an albino.

Also I doubt there will be cyborg Silvermane in a second season for reasons…

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Why? He wasn’t black in the movie he originally appeared in.

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…he was played by Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, his first film appearance.

I understand the mistake though, that movie was so bad I like to forget it exists too.

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Because even though Jamie Foxx played him in the awful film nobody likes, he also played him in the much more positively received (and viewed) Spider-Man: No Way Home. The only other current iteration of Electro on screen is the one in Spidey And His Amazing Friends, who is a girl, and would have not fit the stereoytpical archetype the showrunners of Spider-Noir were looking to fill.

Even if it was Electro here and not Megawatt, I simply must give this series a thumbs down because Big Wheel does not appear :triumph:

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judging the show on impossible criteria? How dare you. Full and well do you know that Avi Arad is too cowardly to adapt the Big Wheel on screen. (Ironically, when you read Big wheel’s story, yeah he’s stilly and the story is aware of how silly he is, but he actually gets dangerously close to killing Spider-Man and fights him at a tough time in Peter’s life… It’s oddly kinda serious, which makes it so good.)

Funny enough you make this joke and yet Megawatt is even less known than Big Wheel. As stated earlier, even Silvermane has a more storied history in the comics.

That reminds me though, I really feel like the show should have had some of the supervillains in costumes. It wouldn’t be out of place tbh considering Superman and Batman were products of the 30s. Closest thing we get is Sandman wears a green pinstripe suit at the end. Which is at least an homage to his iconic green stripes. :stuck_out_tongue:

Also seeing Nic Cage playing another superhero really makes me wish we had another Ghost Rider movie. :frowning:

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That’s because Megawatt isn’t the dumbest idea ever, therefore making him not nearly as funny

For internal consistency though, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. None of the supervillains seem to care that heavily about protecting their identities all that much for some reason, and unfortunately I don’t think a costume would’ve helped Megawatt’s weight problem. I understand he’s like a chauffeur or something but this is the 1930s how are there obese people :imp:

Forget Ghost Rider I wanna see him play Superman

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If you were richer or had slow matabolism it was certainly a thing, but that did cross my mind with Megawatt and the secretary who are implied to be poorer people. They would probably be thinner during the great depression.

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