r/filmnoir • u/mailman936 • 1d ago
Just wondering if anyone in this group is aware of this and is it any good?
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u/Innsmouth_Swimteam 1d ago
I'm halfway through it and I'm having a blast.
As others have said it hits a lot of the noir notes but, as it's also a superhero show, some concessions were made in order to blend the two genres.
The cast is great, Nic Cage stays pretty well hinged, Brendan Gleason elevates the show per usual and Li Jun Li (Sinners) is a smakeshow of a songbird. Even Lucas Haas pops up as a gunsel working for Gleason. There's not a bad apple in the cast.
And yes, try it in B&W. Durr. :)
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u/StingyJack21 1d ago
It’s not really film noir. It has some elements but the styling is really modern. Story wise it’s good though.
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u/MagneticFlea 1d ago
I like it. It feels a little more like a serial than a feature. Nic Cage hams it up but that's fine if you like that sort of thing. The mobster and the femme fatale are excellent in their roles.
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u/Saboscrivner 1d ago
I love it, but Nicolas Cage is my favorite actor of all time, I love the Spider-Man Noir character from the comics (the one in the show has some significant changes), and I'm a sucker for a neo-noir pastiche, so I am the perfect target audience.
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u/alwalidibnyazid 1d ago
I wish I liked it more. I think Cage is a remarkable performer, but the writing is really clunky at times. I may give it another go, we'll see.
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u/StevieZatoichi 1d ago
It’s doesn’t go dark enough for me to be considered noir. The music was too modern and probably A.I. generated. Overall the show was predictable and formulaic, which became tedious to the point of boredom. Just because they slap noir on the title doesn’t make it noir. Also Nic Cage is doing a bad impression of James Stewart.
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u/NowareSpecial 1d ago
Pretty sure Cage is channeling Bogart, although there's probably some Stewart in the mix too. I'm enjoying it, but I usually enjoy seeing what Nic will pull out of his hat.
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u/StevieZatoichi 1d ago
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. A Cage performance is always fun, but I don’t see the Bogie comparison.
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u/NowareSpecial 23h ago
The Bogey mannerisms are obvious IMHO, but if you don't see it you don't. The scene where he impersonates a janitor to recover his spidey outfit is a very obvious homage to a scene from The Big Sleep, Bogey used the same hat, glasses, and mannerisms.
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u/Saboscrivner 1d ago
What a strange thing to say about the music, accusing it of being AI-generated. Variety published a whole article about the co-composers:
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/spider-noir-soundtrack-listing-kris-bowers-1236758860/
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u/RareGanache343 1d ago
It's good as a noir style, but distorting with regard to the noir genre; often very caricatured and prone to standard Marvel-style comedy. Coming from a child-oriented hero, I wasn't expecting much, so that's that.
In what it sets out to do, it's reasonable, although it could be even better if it embraced the noir genre more and stopped with these double games as an attempt to maximize its audience, which only makes the work stranger, with tonal bifurcations and, at times, not really knowing where to go, since it never clearly defined its tone.
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u/timmerpat 1d ago
It’s a lot of fun. Plot isn’t noir by a long shot, but visually fun (could be darker). Highly recommend the black and white.
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u/ElDiablo2112 1d ago
It's great, so far. I've watched episodes 1 & 2 (in black & white, of course) and the noir cinematography is excellent. Cage does a humourous take on Bogart in episode 2.
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u/Bone_Witch 1d ago
It’s a fun twist on Spider-Man! Not really noir, a different Spidey driven by different events in the ‘30s. Man Mountain Marko appears to be Sandman, and they use Silvermane from the early #100s of Spider-Man comics as a kind of Kingpin-Daredevil parallel.
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u/princessleiana 1d ago
I couldn’t get in to it. For me it’s a little corny and I guess I’m very particular about Cage’s roles. This one doesn’t suit him for me. My husband loves it and I love noir so I gave it a shot, but I struggled.
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u/Successful-Smile-167 21h ago
It's noir aesthetics, it has noir elements (scene interpretation) from many noir movies. That pretty good story, character arcs, and full list of noir characters. But it's not film-noir. Its good series, I like it (my wife likes it too, however she don't like noir per se). Much more well made than any Marvel movie, much close to Venom franchise by vibe and humor.
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u/CMichaelsAuthor 1h ago
I really enjoyed the show for what it was. There were definitely things that felt too modern too me, such as some of the songs sung by the otherwise perfectly played Kat Hardy.
I can't really say anything without spoiling it but I would've preferred if it ended differently but it wasn't any kind of a deal breaker for me.
I'd give this show very close to a 9 as far as quality overall but if we're basing it just off of my love for all the Noir and Hardboiled tropes then it is way past a 12.
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u/Invisible_Mikey 1d ago
Yes, it has come up before, with different posts for and against.
I'm liking it, even if it is only noir-ish. The jokes are okay, and it has the jaded attitude, the tilted angles and the high-key lighting style similar to the period it's copying. I prefer watching it in B+W. The club singer/femme fatale fits common noir story elements, as do the wisecracking secretary, the newsboy informant and the reporter pal. Cage being old enough to look worn fits too, even if he acts a bit Bugs Bunny at times.