How Powerful Nic Cage’s Spider-Noir is Compared to the MCU’s Spider-Man

While Nicolas Cage’s lead character in Prime Video’s Spider-Noir has a lot in common with the MCU’s Spider-Man, his powers are a little different from those of his more famous comicbook brethren. Just as The Boys series finale wraps up the five-season story of the iconic superhero satire, Prime Video’s Spider-Noir has cannily filled any resultant hole in the superhero streaming series market with the thoroughly unexpected Nicolas Cage vehicle Spider-Noir. A blend of classic film noir tropes and superhero action, Spider-Noir focuses on Cage’s Ben Reilly.

A military veteran who gained his powers during his years of service in WWII after being bitten by a human-spider hybrid, Ben has become a hard-bitten private eye by the time viewers meet him in the series. Reilly utilised the superpowers that this bite gave him to become The Spider, a masked vigilante who stalked the streets of 1930s New York, thwarting villains. However, Ben hangs up the mask before the action of the series begins, and Spider-Noir’s The Spider is only coaxed out of retirement thanks to the return of some particularly nefarious villains.

Spider-Noir’s Ben Reilly Seems Less Powerful Than The MCU’s Spider-Man

As this synopsis proves, Spider-Noir is unlike any MCU Spider-Man project in terms of tone and style. Admittedly, Spider-Noir’s much hyped TV-MA rating was eventually reduced to a TV-14 in most markets, meaning the more mature series isn’t quite as gritty as its inspirations, 1970s neo-noir movies like Chinatown and Night Moves. That said, Prime Video’s Spider-Noir series remains fairly grim and brutal, and Ben’s powers are appropriately limited as a result.

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In terms of comic book canon, Cage’s Ben Reilly technically shares the same abilities as Peter Parker. He is super-strong, super-fast, beyond human in his level of agility, and blessed with the same iconic “spider sense.” That said, there are big differences between the pair. For one thing, Ben Reilly shoots organic webbing, which can run out, and while his spider-sense is good, it’s not as finely tuned as that of the MCU’s Spider-Man and appears to be painful to use.

Ben’s Powers In Spider-Noir Are Tough To Accurately Gauge

Since Spider-Noir’s style owes more to noir comic books like Sin City than the original Spider-Man comics and movies, Ben’s fighting style reflects this. The older hero is still athletic and strong, but his fighting technique is a little more labored since he’s rusty and aging. He frequently gets beaten up and sometimes resorts to using guns instead of his powers, which seems to imply that he doesn’t have the nigh-on invulnerability of the MCU’s iconic superhero. However, there is something else at play here.

Since Spider-Noir is a grittier, more grounded show, the series needs Ben to feel more vulnerable and human than his MCU counterpart. Thus, it is tough to accurately gauge the potential of Ben’s powers, since he only utilises them in the context of fighting human criminals and violent thugs. If Ben were to face off against one of the more outlandish villains tackled by the MCU’s version of Spider-Man, his potential could prove to be more impressive. However, since viewers only see him in the context of a small-scale noir story with mostly human villains, the powers of Spider-Noir’s hero must be limited to ensure a relatively fair fight.