Let’s get this out of the best way up entrance: The brand new Prime Video sequence “Spider-Noir” seems to be completely implausible. Certain, its lineage and connection to the bigger Spider-Verse may nonetheless be somewhat unclear; in any case, Nicolas Cage voiced a Peter Parker model of Spider-Man Noir in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” whereas Cage’s Spider-Noir on this present is outwardly Ben Reilly. Such nerdy quandaries hardly matter, nevertheless, because the sequence itself seems to be thrilling, dynamic, and infused with Cage’s signature model of theatricality. It seems that showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot have a deal with on conserving the sequence uniquely gritty whereas retaining a variety of tropes and themes from the bigger “Spider-Man” mythos. To not point out, producers/builders Phil Lord and Christopher Miller actually have a wonderful monitor file with their “Spider-Verse” initiatives.
Maybe the present’s most tasty ingredient is its aesthetic, as this “Spider-Noir” trailer demonstrates. In truth, many of the sequence’ episodes have been shot by cinematographer Darran Tiernan, a veteran of attractive exhibits like “The Penguin,” “Barry,” and “Westworld.” “Spider-Noir” was filmed in Los Angeles in wonderful black and white, giving the sequence an intentional look that all the time enhances black and white pictures (versus a nonetheless fairly however not as wealthy post-production course of). Nonetheless, the present is not going to be streamed in black and white solely, because the manufacturing has additionally put collectively a colour model, dubbed “True-Hue,” to be launched concurrently with the black and white one. And whereas this model actually would not instantly intrude with the black and white iteration, its existence sadly continues a long-standing cowardliness with regards to presenting movies and tv that deserves to be eradicated.
The Spider-Noir colour model leans into the embarrassing historical past of colorized movies
To the credit score of “Spider-Noir,” its colour model no less than makes an attempt to retain the sense of retro homage that the unique black and white model has. Whereas the black and white model has apparent connections and connotations to traditional Nineteen Forties and ’50s movie noir, the “True-Hue” model (together with that pseudo-retro time period) is not merely a model of the sequence in conventional 2026 colour, both. It additionally wasn’t created wholly in post-production. As a substitute, the sequence, shot digitally as is frequent apply, took the captured footage, cut up it, and processed it individually into every model. As showrunner Oren Uziel described to Esquire, this allowed the manufacturing to offer the “True-Hue” model a specialised look:
“It seems to be like a black and white movie that is been type of colorized. That was one of many inspirations for easy methods to do it.”
Certainly, the colour model of the sequence, as seen within the newly-released trailer, has that barely off, sickly, washed out palette of colour that was embarrassingly plastered onto so many traditional black and white movies in the course of the reign of Ted Turner and his anti-black and white campaign (an issue that was really tackled in a deleted scene from “Gremlins 2: The New Batch”). It is a cute concept in concept and makes the colour model of “Spider-Noir” greater than an afterthought. Nonetheless, it unwittingly (and even knowingly) leans into the previous stigma surrounding black and white movie. As such, it solely attracts extra consideration to the disparity of the variations and the devaluation of the black and white, not much less.
Spider-Noir ought to’ve been a tastemaker, not a capitulator
Once more, the existence of each the black and white and colour variations of “Spider-Noir” doesn’t suggest one has to exchange or supersede the opposite. In spite of everything, audiences have been educated to understand dueling black and white versus colour variations of movies as options, not bugs, as seen with the likes of “Mad Max: Fury Highway,” “Logan,” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley.” Sarcastically, this additionally makes the “True-Hue” model of “Spider-Noir” extra condemning by comparability, because it would not present an alternate expertise strictly for creative causes. Fairly, it intentionally leans into nostalgia for a devaluing development in movie presentation.
The try by companies to colorize (and, thus, supposedly modernize) traditional movies joins issues like “fullscreen” variations and different practices which can be actually simply contemptuous of audiences, treating the vast majority of viewers insultingly whereas coddling the uninformed and the complaint-prone. So, whereas each variations of “Spider-Noir” supply a supposed freedom of alternative, they subtly diminish one another on the identical time. Naturally, Nicolas Cage was extra upbeat when he spoke with Esquire on the matter:
“I feel teenage viewers will recognize the colour, however I additionally need them to have the choice. In the event that they wish to expertise the idea in black and white, perhaps that might instill some curiosity in them to have a look at earlier motion pictures and luxuriate in that as an artwork type as nicely.”
Whereas that is a pleasant thought and would ideally occur, the supply of each variations of a complete sequence implies that most individuals will solely have the time to observe one. If solely the present was introduced in its primarily supposed style, maybe that training may’ve occurred simpler. Hopefully, it nonetheless will; the selection, it appears, is as much as you.
“Spider-Noir” hits Prime Video on Might 27, 2026.
