If you’re not watching Prime’s Spider-Noir, you’re legitimately missing one of the best superhero TV shows ever made. You’re certainly missing the best live-action Spider-Man TV show, and a contender for one of the broader Spidey franchise’s biggest surprises. We gave the Sony show a 4-star rating in our Spider-Noir review, but it’s such an irresistibly rewatchable show (there are two different versions to enjoy after all) that I may actually revise that to 4.5. It really is that good.
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Nicolas Cage’s deranged take on Spider-Man (here called just The Spider) is a refreshing, unhinged alternative to Tom Holland’s more family-friendly version, with harder-hitting violence and a shocking body horror thread. It is also, crucially, proof that Sony’s repeated attempts to make a more adult annex to the mainline Spider-Man universe really was a good idea. And even better, it can now be used as evidence that Sony Spider-Verse projects can include their own Spider-Man variants to great success, and not just focus on villains, antiheroes, or strangely chosen supporting characters. For a franchise that looked to have lost momentum after a series of misfires, Spider-Noir actually feels like the perfect shot in the arm. And it breaks the franchise’s losing streak in style.
How Spider-Noir Ended the Live-Action Spider-Verse Streak
Sony’s Spider-Verse movies weren’t exactly critically acclaimed, even if the scores were often unfair (and at some point, the scales will shift and we’ll all admit that truth). The audience scores far better reflect the actual quality of the movies, and have more data points, so reflect a broader consensus. But the critics’ scores remain a permanent record, and the overall picture is of a franchise that failed to deliver a single fresh score, and 3 shockingly low ones that came in below 20%.
| Movie | Release Year | Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score | RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venom | 2018 | 31% | |
| Venom: Let There Be Carnage | 2021 | 58% | |
| Morbius | 2022 | 15% | |
| Madame Web | 2024 | 10% | |
| Venom: The Last Dance | 2024 | 40% | |
| Kraven the Hunter | 2024 | 15% |
In contrast, Spider-Noir has a 91% critics’ score, and has officially been Certified Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes. That’s a massive 33% higher than the highest of live-action Sony’s Spider-Verse movies. And even more impressively, Spider-Noir bucks the audience/critics split trend that has been so noticeable since Venom released in 2018. At 92%, Spider-Noir has almost the same audience score as its officially ratified critical score, and if you’re honest, you have to assume Sony will be even more delighted that the show has resonated with fans to that degree than with critics liking it. Hopefully, this will all mean that the possible season 2 that could easily work as a continuation (albeit with a new group of villains) after Spider-Noir‘s ending.
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