Comic book fans have been left distraught at the cancellation of a popular superhero series after only one season.
A live-action spin-off of Sony’s Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Noir starred Nicolas Cage as an alternate reality Spider-Man.
Reimagining the webslinger as a hard-boiled, hard-drinking gumshoe in 1930s New York, Cage reprised his role as Ben Reilly – aka The Spider.
Released on Amazon Prime Video, its story follows Reilly as he investigates the crimes of mob boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson)… and the super-powered individuals popping up across the city.
Its popularity earned the show an overwhelmingly positive score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes but this was not, apparently, enough to guarantee a second series.
It has now been reported that Amazon Prime has cancelled Spider-Noir after only eight episodes.
As the news broke, fans took to the web to share their thoughts.
‘This is devastating,’ wrote Kind-Replacement909 on Reddit, while FraserValleyFan25 called it a ‘dumb decision.’
‘It deserves way better than this,’ agreed DoctorBio, adding to a chorus of voices – such as Beerman_300 – who described it as an ‘incredible’ series.
Added Reddit user JYRO1012: ‘I really do not understand why I should make that decision. That series is one of the best things they’ve ever gotten with Spider-Man IP.’
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Spider-Noir managed to wrap up its story in one self-contained series – a move that may have been intentional, given its big-name star and high-budget action sequences.
It’s also been reported by Variety that Amazon Prime/MGM+ will be forging ahead with its partnership with Sony to release another unrelated series based on stories from the ‘Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters.’
In making Spider-Noir, Cage appeared in an ongoing television drama for the first time in his 45-year-strong career.
Speaking to Metro, showrunner Oren Uziel revealed how he’d managed to convince the actor to break his one rule.
‘He was familiar with the character, and he loves comic books. I think he wanted to hear from me and learn what type of show I wanted to make,’ Uziel said.
‘We just really went back and forth about all the film noirs that we love as well. It’s not just comic books, and he is encyclopedic in his knowledge of film noir and cinema itself.’
This is far from Cage’s first comic book rodeo, having previously played the role of Ghost Rider in its 2007 adaptation and 2011 sequel.
In addition to appearing as Big Daddy in 2010’s Kick-Ass, Cage also got to fulfil a career-long ambition when he voiced Superman for Teen Titans GO! To The Movies.
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However, he was less enthused about his appearance as Superman in The Flash (2023).
What I was supposed to do was literally just be standing in an alternate dimension, if you will, and witnessing the destruction of the universe,’ he told Yahoo! Entertainment.
What he found instead, however, was something located firmly in the uncanny valley – and a sequence he had no recollection of filming.
‘When I went to [see] the picture, it was me fighting a giant spider. I did not do that. That was not what I did. I don’t think it was [created by] AI, it was CGI, OK, so that they could de-age me, and I’m fighting a spider. I didn’t do any of that, so I don’t know what happened there,’ a bemused Cage added.
Spider-Noir is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.