As Spider-Man’s movie future remains mysterious, there is a much-anticipated version of the character heading to TV. That would be Spider-Man Noir, the fan favorite 1930’s inspired hero from Earth 90214, and he will be played by the one and only Nicolas Cage in live action. Fans have started to get a glimpse at what that will look like, and if you’re not familiar with the character, there are several major differences between Spider-Man Noir and the mainline universe’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, including their respective origins.
While the main universe Spider-Man calls the present day home, Spider-Man Noir is set in the midst of the Great Depression, taking place in 1930s New York City. This Peter Parker is also raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and also loses his Uncle Ben in a tragic way, though what led to this and how it happened differ drastically.
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In this version of the events, Peter’s Uncle Ben is gruesomely murdered by The Goblin (aka Norman Osborne) in a form of retaliation for organizing a strike on Goblin’s businesses. While there’s no evidence, Peter knows it was Goblin who killed Uncle Ben, and sets about trying to figure out how to prove it. That leads to an encounter where they are saved by The Daily Bugle’s Ben Urich, who takes Peter on as a protegee.
The Spider-Bite
This sets the stage for Peter to get his powers, but again, things are far darker in tone than in the mainline universe. In this story, Peter discovers Ben is a drug addict after finding him passed out, and that’s how he intercepts a tip about one of Goblin’s shipments. Peter heads to the pier and thanks to one a dropped Spider Idol, a host of spiders are freed, and one of them bites Peter.
This turns out to be no ordinary Spider of course, and the god-like entity imbues Peter with the powers of a spider that we’ve all come to know. He has enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, and his trademark spider-sense, and he can create webs from his wrists as well. This leads Peter to head back to Ben and confront him, learning that he’s been blackmailed by Osborn to feed his drug habit.
After this encounter, Peter creates his Spider-Man costume, basing it off of Uncle Ben’s airman uniform, and is resolved to take the Goblin down. Unfortunately he no longer has Urich to count on, as Urich is dead when he finds him next, and then he ends up embroiled in the death of Jonah Jameson, but we learn there’s far more to the story than what initially appears.
That’s the origin of Spider-Man Noir, and you can see how it retains the core elements of Spider-Man while also making grand changes in a grittier tone. We’ll have to see what the live action film does with the material, but it is easily one of the most exciting Spider-projects on the horizon.
Are you excited for Spider-Man Noir? You can talk all things marvel and comics with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!