Spider-Noir

 

While I have not been paying too much attention to Marvel's various spider-verses (the only competition Peter Parker had back when I was last consistently reading comics was Venom), Nicholas Cage starring in this other-universe version of Spider-Man piqued our interest and drew us in.

Nick Cage's Ben Reilly rescued a group of POW's from Nazi experimentation, but in doing so, he himself was infected and given some spider-like powers (I won't give the spoiler-details). After failing to save the love of his life, the Spider retires and Ben becomes a lowly, noir-themed private detective (what else?). The emergence of more super-powered beings brings him out of his retirement, although he has second-thoughts about this more than once.

In this universe he faces Silvermane - a variation on a crime lord from Spider-Man's past - along with alternative versions of Electro, Sandman, the Lizard and, I guess, sorta-kinda, the Human Torch, among others. Naturally, there is a femme fatale, as well, who plays a double agent while only really working for herself, while an unethical doctor unleashes other superhuman for personal reasons of her own.

There is plenty of intrigue, a healthy dose of noir-influenced PI/detective work, mucho double-and-triple crossing and tons of dukes-up brawling. 

While Nick Cage can kinda steal the thunder just by being Nick Cage, I dug this variation on the Spider-theme with its hints back to the original comics mixed with its noir-influenced cinematography and Chandler-esque writing. I actually think this worked better than some of the more "official" Spier-movies, where I nit-picked things apart if they weren't true to the comics. Open minded fans should definitely give it a chance, as long as they realize that this is a different universe, with just some nods to the comic-verse that we are used to.