Between the live-action and animated movie versions of Spider-Man fans of the wall-crawler are spoiled for choice but before too long we’re going to get even more, as a new Prime Video series starring Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir is on the way. While what we know about Spider-Man Noir is fairly limited right now, the plot synopsis of the new series has allegedly leaked, and it reveals who may be the perfect villain.
According to Daniel Richtman (via ComicBookMovie), the series will see Cage as PI Ben Reilly, who, upon investigating a mysterious death, discovers that the mayor is up to something that involves ”crime boss Silvermane and femme fatale Yuri Watanabe.”
In the Spider-Man comics Silvio Manfredi, known as Silvermane, is the leader of an organized crime family known as the Maggia. He doesn’t have superpowers. He’s just an incredibly powerful crimelord. For a noir detective story, he’s the perfect sort of villain, as many classic noir stories deal with that sort of criminal activity. It was recently reported that Brendan Gleeson had been cast in Spider-Man Noir, and while his role has not been confirmed, he would be an excellent Silvermane.
Kingpin is the more well-known Spider-Man villain who is also a crime boss, but Silverman is perhaps a better choice here simply because we haven’t seen him in live-action. While this series won’t be directly connected to the MCU, using a different character will help the new series differentiate itself from the various other Marvel projects, especially now that Vincent D’Onofrio is back as the MCU’s official Kingpin.
And what good noir story doesn’t have a femme fatale? In Spider-Man Noir that role will be filled by Yuri Watanabe. Yuri is traditionally depicted as an NYPD detective who becomes frustrated with the fact that the law limits what she can do to stop crime. She becomes the vigilante known as Wraith. She battles criminals like Spider-Man though frequently uses far more brutal methods to do so than Spidey.
The name Wraith isn’t used in the allegedly leaked synopsis, so it’s unclear if this version of Yuri will also be Wraith. That could be something being held back as a surprise for the series, or it could be something we might see in the future if the show is able to get multiple seasons.
As a fan of Spider-Man and a fan of the noir genre, I’m as excited for the new series as I have been anything Spidey-related in a long time. It makes me quite glad I have a Prime Video subscription. Grabbing Nicolas Cage to play Ben Reilley, who did such a great job as the voice of the character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, is only going to make the show better.
