Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Noir Final Trailer Is Here

Nicolas Cage is back in black — and he’s got a lot to say about responsibility. Prime Video dropped the final trailer for Spider-Noir this week, and if the footage is anything to go by, this is shaping up to be one of the most distinctive superhero projects in years. Set to Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and dripping with 1930s atmosphere, the trailer leans hard into deadpan humor and pulp noir tropes while teasing a web of villains that’s bigger than anyone probably expected.

As has been the case since the first teaser, the trailer comes in two flavors: “Authentic Black & White” and “True-Hue Full Color” — a dual-format gimmick that’s actually not a gimmick at all. The showrunners are calling the color version “True Hue,” and fans will be able to toggle between both when the series lands on Prime Video. (Cage himself reportedly suggested releasing the show in both formats.)

The final trailer opens on a Ben Reilly who is very much done being a hero. He’s retired his costume, hung out his PI shingle, and has a philosophy to match: “With no power comes no responsibility.” Yes, that’s a direct inversion of the most famous line in Spider-Man history, and it lands perfectly. It’s the clearest signal yet that this show knows exactly what it’s doing.

A Spider-Man Story Like No Other

Cage plays Ben Reilly — not Peter Parker — a seasoned, down-on-his-luck private investigator operating in 1930s New York City who once fought crime as a wall-crawling vigilante called The Spider. The name is deliberate. Showrunner Oren Uziel has explained that the team went with “The Spider” over “Spider-Man” to honor the tradition of pulp hero names like The Shadow and The Phantom. And choosing Ben Reilly over Peter Parker wasn’t an accident either.

“Peter Parker is so synonymous to me with a young character and a coming-of-age story,” Uziel said. “The Ben Reilly character allows it to immediately distinguish itself from a Peter Parker story.”

What we get instead is closer to a Humphrey Bogart movie with webs. Cage has described his performance as a mix between Bogart and Bugs Bunny, and somehow that tracks perfectly with what the trailer is selling. Uziel put it even more directly: “The thing that I said a lot from start to finish was, ‘We’re really trying to make an old Bogart movie.’ It’s just that Bogart happens to be Spider-Man.”

The Casablanca parallel runs deep, too. “One of the touchstones of this was Rick from Casablanca,” Uziel explained. “He starts off the movie saying, ‘I don’t stick my neck out for anybody,’ but you know that deep down he’s probably going to stick his neck out for somebody. Ben Reilly is in a similar position. He’s insisting on a thing that we know he doesn’t really believe in his heart.”

The Villains Are Here — and They’re Wild

The trailer also gives us our best look yet at the rogues’ gallery Reilly will be up against. Brendan Gleeson plays Silvermane, an Irish crime boss who has essentially taken over New York City and is assembling a crew of superpowered muscle to cement his grip on the city. Among them: Jack Huston as Flint Marko, who transforms into this universe’s version of Sandman. The trailer also teases appearances from alternate-universe takes on Electro (here called Megawatt) and a character named Jimmy Addison, among others.

The prospect of watching Cage and Gleeson — two of the most magnetic actors working today — go head-to-head in a Marvel-infused noir setting is, frankly, a lot to process. These are 1930s versions of these villains, so their looks and abilities are grounded in the era’s aesthetic rather than the comic book bombast fans might expect. It works.

Lamorne Morris plays Robbie Robertson, Reilly’s optimistic journalist friend who keeps nudging his buddy toward his better self. Li Jun Li is Cat Hardy, the nightclub singer femme fatale who walks into Reilly’s office and sets the whole plot in motion — Li has said she based her portrayal on Anna May Wong, Rita Hayworth, and Lauren Bacall. Karen Rodriguez rounds out the core as Janet, Reilly’s sharp and loyal secretary.

Same Voice, Different Universe

Cage, of course, voiced a version of Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and its 2023 sequel Across the Spider-Verse — and he’s set to reprise that animated role in the still-upcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse. But this live-action Ben Reilly is not the same character.

“Same character, different universe,” Uziel has said. “It’s a different flavor of that character, even though it’s still Nic’s voice. It’s not a continuation of Into the Spider-Verse. Once Phil and Chris introduced the idea of the multiverse, I think you’re allowed to take things and make them your own.”

The goal, Uziel said, was always “to make a version of Spider-Man that no one had ever seen before.” And when Cage watched the finished season back, the reaction was apparently something special. “He spoke his own lines back, with pleasure and glee,” Uziel recalled. “It was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced.”

The creative pedigree behind the show is serious. Emmy-winning director Harry Bradbeer — the mind behind Fleabag and Killing Eve — directed and executive produced the first two episodes. Uziel and co-showrunner Steve Lightfoot (Marvel’s The Punisher) developed the series alongside the Into the Spider-Verse team: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal, all of whom serve as executive producers.

The show is also reportedly being submitted for Emmy consideration — which, given what the trailer is promising, doesn’t feel like a reach.

Spider-Noir premieres on MGM+ on May 25, 2026, with all eight episodes dropping globally on Prime Video on May 27. You can watch in black and white, in color, or — if you’re the dedicated type — both.