Spider-Noir on Prime Video didn’t get renewed, but it did get a ton of Emmy love, great reviews, and completed the story it was telling in a way that satisfied star Nicolas Cage. Inspired by the appeal of Cage voicing a version of the Spider-Noir character in the Spider-Verse animated movies, the series tweaked a slightly different — but close enough — variant to give us Ben Reilly, private investigator and temporarily retired arachnid superhero. He existed in a black and white, film noir-style universe, per the show’s title, and talked like a character from a 1930s movie. As the plot would reveal, this was because his mutagenic spider bite made him temporarily forget how to be a human, so he relearned from the films he watched.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In addition to black and white, the episodes were available in color, but a very saturated, comic-book style color, reminiscent of Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy movie. Whichever version a viewer chose to watch, they knew they were in a different world, with a larger-than-life presentation of heroes and villains.
It Almost Didn’t Happen, Says Cage
One might think that in a world where we got two Sin City movies, studios have gotten past the notion that comic book fans won’t watch black and white. Yet at the recent Dallas Fan Expo, Cage revealed that the monochrome approach was almost a deal-breaker. “They weren’t going to make the show,” he said. “They were terrified of the black and white. they were so nervous about it. And I remember getting on the phone with [producer] Jen Salke, and I’m like, I got to figure out a way to keep this thing going. I go to get this thing made”
A timely movie in theaters gave him a thought, he says. He saw Godzilla Minus One, which came out in both full color and a Godzilla Minus Color black-and-white version, the latter a tribute to the original Gojira. From there, he suggested that Spider-Noir could do the same thing: color for the younger kids who just think all black and white looks dated, and black and white for the fans who get the references. According to the actor, this decision saved the series. For one season, anyway. Maybe once the third Spider-Verse movie comes out, it’ll click with younger viewers that this character is not supposed to exist in a universe of color, and they can rewatch as intended. Check out the video footage below:
Had the producers been paying more attention, they might have seen this work out well for other heroic productions. George Miller released Mad Max: Fury Road in a “Blood and Chrome” edition that represented his ideal version of the movie; likewise, Zack Snyder’s preferred director’s cut of Justice League is the black and white “Justice is Gray” edition. On Blu-ray and digital, James Mangold’s Logan, originally meant to be the final Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie, included a de-colored Logan Noir version. Godzilla Minus One wasn’t the first, but it may have been the first large-scale special effects movie to do a black and white variant while still in its initial theatrical run. Cage might not have seen any of those, but fans of Spider-Noir are certainly fortunate that he does enjoy himself some Godzilla.
Have you experienced Spider-Noir in both black and white and color versions yet? If so, which did you think was better?
More Movies
-
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures -
IMAGE COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. -
Image Courtesy of Cya Live/YouTube -
Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company -
DCU Batman appearing in silhouette in Creature Commandos.
