ATTENTION: This article contains spoilers for the season 1 finale of Spider-Man: Noir, now available to watch on Prime Video.
«Spider-Noir is unlike any superhero saga we've ever seen.
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The Spider-Man: Noir soundtrack will feature new compositions by Chris Bowers and Michael Dean Parsons, as well as two original songs performed by Li Jun Li.
A film noir/superhero hybrid shot in stunning black and white (but also available in color), Spider-Noir tells the story of Ben Reilly (Nicolas Cage), a seasoned private detective in Depression-era New York City who retired from crime fighting after the death of his wife, becoming known as Spider. Along with his journalist friend Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris), Ben re-enters the fray to solve a complex case involving glamorous nightclub singer Kat Hardy (Li Jun Li), Irish crime boss Finn Byrne/Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson), and a squad of World War I veterans imbued with special powers. At the center of it all is Cage, one of Hollywood's most unusual and unpredictable stars, who delivers a masterful performance in Spider-Noir like chewing gum. As Cage recently told Variety , he "was busy combining the looks of old actors with Stan Lee's masterpiece, Spider-Man, to create a kind of Roy Lichtenstein-style pop-art sensation.".
All eight episodes of the Oren Uziel-produced series premiered on Prime Video on May 27 (and previously on MGM+). The finale, "The Masked Man," is a cinematic masterpiece that combines elements of Star Wars, Spider-Man, The Lady from Shanghai, and even Casablanca.
We witness a confrontation at Finn's nightclub and a brief ruse in which Robbie impersonates Spider-Man, before learning that it was Ben who freed Flint/Sandman (Jack Huston), Lonnie/Tombstone (Abraham Popoola), and Dirk/Megawatt (Andrew Lewis Caldwell) from a World War I prison camp where they were experimented on and given their powers. In a sequence reminiscent of Orson Welles's The Lady from Shanghai, Cat enters a hall of mirrors, where she ultimately defeats Silvermane by shooting him.
According to Cage, "It's very noticeable in The Lady from Shanghai. I also like Enter the Dragon and the scene in the hall of mirrors at the end, and it's all borrowed from Welles.".
There's also a thrilling scene where Cage's Spider-Man battles Sandman and Megawatt, nearly dying from a lightning bolt (like in Return of the Jedi) before hurling the villain under an oncoming train. Cage, who was new to television, initially struggled with the format's rhythm and dynamics, as well as working with different directors on the same project.
«"What's different about television and film, and I'm a student and I want to learn, is that the DP sets up the shot with a stand-in, and you don't have time to rehearse—they have to shoot the shot—so the actor has to figure out how to get the shot that suits the character," he explains. "In film, you bring in actors, work with the DP, and discuss all the details together, whereas in television, it's not like that because of the time constraints. It was a bit of a learning process. In the first episode, I was like, 'What's going on?' 'What is this?!' Here, it's all a bit more prefabricated, and you have to adapt.".
Cage continues: «Another big difference, obviously, is that you start working with one director, and two episodes later, you have a new director. And you wonder, «Are we going to work together?» «This is my rhythm, what’s yours?» They bring in the next director, they observe the work for a few weeks, discuss all the details, and you start to get to know them. And I was lucky because each of the directors had something different to offer, and it ended up being a wonderful creative coalition.».
In the end, Ben acts selflessly and leaves the woman he's in love with (Kat), giving Sandman an antidote to cure his superpowers and allow him and Kat to live a happy life together. It's a Bogart-esque move, which Cage finds perfectly logical.
«"I think Ben Reilly realizes it's pointless. Kat doesn't love him, that's all," he says. "Am I going to be the guy who keeps pursuing someone who's not interested? No . "Is this selflessness or simply sincerity and a desire to let her go? He wanted to forget about it and put it all aside because he feels like he's let down the love of his life. Here he is, a man with superpowers, and he couldn't save his beloved Ruby, so what's the point? He feels intense remorse. But he has a higher calling, and he's fulfilling it.".
The Spider-Noir episode ends with Ben and his loyal secretary, Janet Ruiz (Karen Rodriguez), opening their own private detective agency. So what's in store for the pair (and Robbie) in future seasons?
«"I don't know," Cage says. "But I would say that whether it happens or not, we all achieved what we wanted, and it just works out. We'll see what happens.".
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