Spider-Man Spinoff Spider-Noir Adds Abraham Popoola
Popoola joins a cast that includes Nicolas Cage, Lamorne Morris, Brendan Gleeson, and Li Jun Li.
Abraham Popoola, best known for his roles in projects like Atlas and The Marvels, has been cast in Spider-Noir, the upcoming Prime Video series that will see Nicolas Cage reprise the role of Spider-Man Noir (but this time in live-action). After months of rumors, the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse actor is now officially attached to star in Spider-Noir, an upcoming live-action series from Prime Video and MGM+. The character hails from Earth-90214 in the Marvel Comics multiverse, which is a Depression-era world where Marvel's superheroes are reinvented to fit into the aesthetic of noir detective movies. Cage, who voiced the character in Into the Spider-Verse, has always been the fans' pick to star in the live-action series but he isn't traditionally an actor who has taken on TV roles.
According to Deadline, who first reported the casting, Popoola will play "a World War I veteran who is looking for an opportunity to get ahead." There is no name attached at this point, so it isn't clear whether he will have any ties to Spider-Man lore. The series also stars Brendan Gleeson, Wu Assassins star Li Jun Li, and Lamorne Morris.
"I can say that we have been talking. It's no secret that I love the character," Cage said back in March. "I can combine my favorite golden age performances — i.e. Robinson, Cagney, Bogart — with a character that is, I guess, widely considered [to be] Stan Lee's masterpiece. I see it as a kind of foray into a pop art mash up of, sort of, a [Jungian] Lichtenstein, mash up by way of Bogart and Cagney, but nothing's definitive yet. It's just conversation."
"Expanding the Marvel universe with 'Noir' is a uniquely special opportunity and we are honored to bring this series to our global Prime Video customers," said Vernon Sanders, head of television for Amazon MGM Studios, in a statement. "The extremely talented Nicolas Cage is an ideal choice for our new superhero and the accomplished producing team with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, and the incredible team at Sony is dedicated to expanding this franchise in the most authentic way."
Per its official synopsis, Spider-Noir "tells the story of an aging and down on his luck private investigator (Cage) in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city's one and only superhero."
