- Title: Spider-Noir – Step Into My Office
- wiki: link
Distinctly different than the original comic character or the character shown in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (also voiced by Cage), the opening episode of Amazon Prime’s Spider-Noir series introduces Private Detective Ben Reilly (Nicolas Cage) as a former super-hero turned struggling gumshoe just trying to make a living in the big city which is still reeling from the Great Depression and machinations of crime lord Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson).
The first episode sets the tone, which is sadly a bit more serious take on noir than what we got in the animated film which really lent into having a bit of fun with the concept by overemphasizing the noir aspects of the character and genre. Without giving us a full origin for this Spider (notably not Spider-Man), we do get some tidbits from Ben’s past (although not why he’s Ben rather than Peter in this reality given he doesn’t feel like a clone or have other versions of the character used this name). The show is also available in both black-and-white and color (although I don’t know why anyone would want to watch this in color). And, perhaps most surprising, we don’t get our Spider costumed up (except in a short montage used to explain the end of his hero career).
Kicking off the series we get a pair of cases for Ben, one he was hired to do looking into lounge singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), albeit by someone hiding their true identity and motives, and another involving a villain with fire powers, another private investigator, and Silvermane’s interest in powered individuals. By the end of the episode, Ben will have a new client, have learned of two super-powered individuals operating in New York, and gotten on the radar of Silvermane suggesting whether he likes it or not he’s days refusing to be the Spider are coming to an end.
“Step Into My Office” isn’t necessarily how I would have re-introduced the character, notably out of costume, but it does get the ball rolling setting up the world and a hero on a path to redemption. The black-and-white adds to both the trappings of the genre and the style of the city. I would have liked a little more humor from a Spider-Man property and there are some nagging questions, not tied to the season’s mystery but choices made in creating this version of Spider-Man Noir that do nag at me. I doubt all of these will get answered, possibly not any, but, even if it didn’t blow me away with its first episode, there’s enough here that I’m still curious to delve into further.
