Amazon's 8-Episode Spider-Noir Disappoints Despite Nicolas Cage's Late-Season Spark
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · May 22
Amazon's 8-Episode Spider-Noir Disappoints Despite Nicolas Cage's Late-Season Spark
9 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · May 22
Eight episodes leave "Spider-Noir" feeling overstretched, with the review arguing the season contains a much better 100-minute movie buried inside it.
Nicolas Cage improves the series only in its back half, when his eccentric turn as Depression-era Ben Reilly finally becomes vivid enough to jolt an otherwise dull, derivative story.
Black-and-white cinematography stands out as the show's clearest strength, while Amazon's parallel color option is criticized as aesthetically muddled and often ugly.
Strong supporting players including Lamorne Morris, Karen Rodriguez and Brendan Gleeson are undercut by thin writing, leaving the series with stylish moments but little depth or momentum.
The review lands on a mixed verdict ahead of the May 25 MGM+ and May 27 Amazon debut: intermittently fun, but too nondescript to justify its full first season.
Can 'Spider-Noir's' visual style save it from a predictable superhero story?
Why did 'Spider-Noir' erase its hero's dark comic origins for a safer plot?
What convinced Nicolas Cage to trade movie retirement for a TV superhero role?