Marvel fans will get to finally see the Noir universe in live-action when Nicolas Cage stars in the anticipated Spider-Man Noir. The character picked up popularity pretty soon after debuting in the comics and has made a number of other appearances in other stories and storylines since, including several high-profile Spider-Verse crossovers and even jumping to the realm of video games. After Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse his popularity truly exploded, and now the character is getting his time to shine solo in the upcoming live-action film. It’s been quite the journey for the character since first entering the scene, and we’re here to break it all down.
Marvel Noir
While Spider-Man Noir was clearly the breakout hit, there was actually a larger Marvel Noir line of books that Spider-Man was initially a part of. Marvel introduced its Noir line of books in 2009, and each series would give a variety of Marvel characters a 1930s spin in an alternate universe known as Earth 90214. The line started with Spider-Man Noir #1 (by David Hine, Fabrice Sapolsky, and Carmine Di Giandomenico) and X-Men Noir #1 (by Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero) in February of 2009, and Spider-Man would go on to become a major hit.
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Spider-Man and X-Men Noir were joined by Daredevil Noir (Alexander Irvine and Tomm Coker) and Wolverine Noir (Stuart Moore and C.P. Smith) in June of 2009, and then those two were followed by Luke Cage Noir (Mike Benson, Adam Glass, and Shawn Martinbrough) and Punisher Noir (Frank Tieri and Paul Azaceta) in October of 2009.
Marvel would then take a break from new characters and return to the original two, launching Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face and X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain. Marvel would return with a new character in Iron Man Noir in 2010 by Scott Snyder and Manuel Garcia, which would be followed by a third Spider-Man series in Spider-Man Noir: Twilight in Babylon.
[RELATED: Spider-Man Noir Has a Wildly Different Origin Story From the Spidey You Know]
Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon
While the term Spider-Verse is pretty mainstream these days, it was still pretty new back in 2014. Back then Marvel introduced an event titled Spider-Verse, which had the inheritors attempting to take out spider-characters all over the multiverse to absorb their energy and feed. These are led by one of Spider-Man’s more powerful villains in recent years Morlun, and to defeat the Inheritors, Spider-Man gathers a Spider-Army featuring characters from all over the multiverse.
Spider-Man Noir doesn’t have the biggest role in that event, but he’s still in the mix, and it certainly has an effect on what happens after. The Spider-Man joins a new team called the Web Warriors who are tasked with making sure the Inheritors are kept on their jail planet while also monitoring the Web of Life and Destiny, and the team includes The Spider-Man, Spider-UK, Spider-Han, Pavitr Prabhakar (Spider-Man), Ghost-Spider, and Spider-Girl.
He would continue that role until the next major crossover event, which happens in the pages of Spider-Geddon in 2018. The role isn’t the biggest here, but there are some standout moments as he interacts with the rest of the various multiverse Spideys. Then Spider-Man Noir teams up with Miles Morales in Spider-Verse: Spider-Zero, which follows Spider-Geddon and explains what happened in the immediate aftermath.
Peter then ends up trying to solve a case that eventually leads them to the knowledge that the Nazis are trying to find the M’Kraan crystal. Then a collision with a powered-up Elektro follows, though that’s nothing compared to Spider-Man having to confront his dead enemies after a portal is opened up to the underworld. Thanks to the Underworld’s Queen Ereshkigal, Spider-Man learns how to destroy the crystal to keep it out of evil hands. Those events then led to the most recent story in the series known as The End of the Spider-Verse, which saw many of the multiverse’s Spider characters turned against their friends by the ancient and powerful enemy known as Shathra.
What’s been your favorite part of Spider-Man Noir so far, and what do you want to see in the live-action film? You can talk all things comics and Marvel with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!