Nicholas Cage Reportedly in talks to play Spider-Man Noir

Written By Jack Lawrenson-Leroux · February 21, 2024

Spider-Man Noir into Live Action

While fans are patiently waiting for the finale of the Spider-Verse trilogy, Sony have been using their Spider-Man characters in a live action capacity as much as possible. After the disappointing release of Madame Web, fans are curious to see the condition of ‘Kraven the Hunter‘, ‘Venom 3’ and the Amazon Prime show, ‘Spider-Man Noir‘. As many know, Spider-Man Noir is an alternate version of Peter Parker from Earth-90214 that made an appearance in ‘Into the Spider-Verse‘ and will be making a return in ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’. In the Spider-Verse movies, Nicholas Cage voices Spider-Man Noir and according to recent reports, he may also be playing a live action adaptation.

A report from The Ankler has stated that Nicholas Cage has been talking to Sony discussing whether or not he should play the live action version of the character. Sony will be pushing Spider-Man Noir as it would make fans of the Spider-Verse films want to watch a live action show of the character, not to mention the countless fans who  have wanted to see a live action Spider-Man Noir for years. The character of Spider-Man Noir will definitely get some attention but will it get enough attention on Amazon Prime?

Well if the above report is true, attaching Nicholas Cage’s name to the project will definitely ramp up attention among both comic book fans and general audiences. However, it will be very interesting for Cage to join the project as he usually portrays roles in films rather than TV shows. He has of course done the odd TV show and has hosted some shows but it isn’t really the actor’s go-to role in the industry. It could be due to his connection with the character in the Spider-Verse movies or his need to do something different that is sparking the discussion of the character.

These reports should be taken with a grain of salt however as “talks” may simply refer to Sony reaching out to Nicholas Cage and pitching the idea to try and get him to join. It could be that Sony and Cage have been discussing the role and how Cage would portray the character but whether he actually joins or not is unknown at this point. It should be said that fans should not get their hopes up for Cage to play the titular character if the show.

Spider-Man in the 1930’s

Although the show is in early development and there has been little word on the project already we do have some details on the show so far, however this is very much subject to change. According to some sources, Spider-Man Noir will not be about Peter Parker and instead the Spider will be another character. This character could be an original character or a completely different character in the existing Spider-Man mythos. This could be Sony’s attempt to separate this Spider Variant from his more well known counterparts.

We also know that this project will be set in the 1930’s which is usually the era where the Noir Universe takes place usually and will of course have a very black and white Noir aesthetic. Sony’s reputation for comic book adaptations so far could be seen as underachieving with Venom making an exception, so how they will alter the character of Spider-Man Noir will be interesting to see. However, with Nicholas Cage as a possibility for casting, the show is looking hopeful for success. Nicholas Cage is an extremely talented actor with an incredible range, a superhero of the 1930’s would be a great role for him to take.

Of course this show will not be connected to the Spider-Verse movies as Sony will want that separation, the Spider-Man Noir show could offer general audiences and comic book fans the opportunity to have some background on the Spider-Man Noir character as a whole for added context to the Spider-Verse movies, Cage portraying the titular character will help present this context as both animated and live action adaptations of Spider-Man Noir.

The Noir Universe

With this show comes a new insight into a universe we have never seen in live action and have only seen glimpses of in animation across all mediums. The Noir Universe, also known as Earth-90214, is home to all your favourite superheroes with a 1930’s twist. Spider-Man in this universe wants to expose the Goblin as the person behind the death of Uncle Ben. It would be interesting if the Spider-Man Noir show follows a similar route with Spider-Man trying to figure out who killed his Uncle, believing the Goblin to be behind it.

In the show we could witness many classic Marvel characters in their Noir Variant appearance, characters such as Vulture, Goblin or even Kingpin himself. The show may, however, have a similar tone and style to DC’s ‘The Batman’ and this would be Sony’s way to try and replicate that movie using their own characters. This is not a guaranteed direction but a possible direction Sony may take the show.

Regardless of where the plot of the Spider-Man Noir show will take us, if Nicholas Cage joins the cast as the Spider himself then fans will be in for a treat with this show as we will finally get our live action appearance of Spider-Man Noir and could set up future seasons or even a Multiversal Connection to the existing SSU (Sony Spider-Man Universe) or even the MCU.

Only time will tell and it will be interesting to see where this show will take us. Although there is no official release date yet and the project being in extremely early stages, fans unfortunately shouldn’t expect Spider-Man Noir to make his live action debut before 2025 at the earliest.