One of the most intriguing and out-of-left-field comic book-inspired projects coming next year is Prime Video’s Spider-Noir, a live-action series based on the alt-universe pulp detective version of Spider-Man. The Marvel Comics character went mainstream thanks to his inclusion in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where he was voiced by Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage. Now, Cage will star as a live-action version of the character in Spider-Noir. And thanks to some Spider-Noir posters revealed at CCXP in Brazil, which you can see below, we’ve learned that this 1930s era Spidey won’t actually be Peter Parker. Well, not exactly.
In the posters, we see the door to Spider-Noir’s detective agency, and the name reads B. Reilly. That’s short for Ben Reilly, a name familiar to Spidey fans who grew up in the ’90s. Ben Reilly is the name of the infamous “Spider-Clone” of Peter Parker, popularized in the Spider-Man Clone Saga, which ran through several years of Marvel Comics. This character was genetically identical to Peter Parker and had all of his memories to a certain point. He chose the name Ben Reilly for himself, based on his Uncle Ben, and Reilly was Aunt May’s maiden name. Ben Reilly eventually chose the superhero name the Scarlet Spider, and he’s still around.
By using the name Ben Reilly for Nic Cage’s Spider-Man in Spider-Noir, it feels like Sony is essentially saying he’s Peter Parker in all but name, probably because the name “Peter Parker” is reserved for the movies. We have a feeling that’s what the name change is all about. We highly doubt that this Ben Reilly is clone in Spider-Noir, although you never know what they’ve got planned. Here’s the official description for the series from Sony and Prime Video:
Spider-Noir is a live-action series based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir. Spider-Noir tells the story of Ben Reilly (Cage), an aging and down on his luck private investigator in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero.
The series will be available to watch in both black and white and color. Aside from Cage, other well-known names appearing in the series include Jack Huston, Abraham Popoola, and Brendan Gleeson. As for its release date, all we know is that it’s coming sometime in 2026. It’ll be interesting to see if it arrives at the same time Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters. This would give fans two distinct live-action Spideys at once. We’ll just have to wait and see when Spider-Noir drops on Prime Video next year.