‘Spider-Noir’ Creator Discusses Season 2 Plans That Fans Will Never See

Nicolas Cage’s debut leading role in a regular television series was meant to mark the beginning of something significant. ‘Spider-Noir‘ premiered earlier this year, quickly becoming a critical and awards favorite by merging Depression-era detective fiction with Marvel’s Spider-Man lore, captivating both critics and Emmy voters alike.

The eight-episode series, inspired by the Marvel comic ‘Spider-Man Noir,’ featured Cage as Ben Reilly, a weary private investigator drawn back into his Spider persona after a tragic personal loss. Set in 1930s New York, the show was presented in both black-and-white and full-color versions, a stylistic choice that became one of its hallmark creative elements.

The announcement of its cancellation in September came as a genuine shock. Prime Video confirmed that the show would not return for a second season, a decision that was made just days before ‘Spider-Noir’ won five Emmy Awards at that year’s ceremony, following 11 total nominations, the highest of any Prime Video series aside from ‘WandaVision.’

Now, co-creator and showrunner Oren Uziel is sharing insights into where he envisioned Ben Reilly’s story heading next. In a conversation with Variety, Uziel revealed that Season 2 would have taken Ben out of New York and into a different realm of the noir genre.

“If I had my druthers, it would be probably another location,” Uziel shared with Variety. “There are so many L.A. noirs we could have dove into. There are European noirs we could have explored. There are other places to go. You’re starting in 1933. Where is that heading? It’s heading toward just a most cataclysmic time — World War II. There was a lot of storytelling that could have happened there.”

This tonal shift would have represented a significant change for the series, moving away from its Great Depression setting towards the lead-up to one of history’s darkest periods. Given the show’s deep roots in classic film noir, a European, WWII-adjacent backdrop would have provided a fresh well of genre inspiration.

Despite the show’s impressive critical acclaim, which included a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a reported 2.6 billion viewing minutes within its first six weeks, Uziel remains unsure if ‘Spider-Noir’ could find new life on another platform. “We haven’t gotten there yet,” he stated to Variety when asked about a potential revival. “I literally do not know the legalities and complications of that. But I expect that it’s a complicated proposition.”

Uziel also confirmed that he won’t be part of any upcoming live-action Spider-Man project being developed by Amazon and Sony, although he expressed genuine enthusiasm for the franchise. “They have people working on all those things,” he noted. “I would always love to advise and take part because I loved it. I know what the challenges are and what the rewards can be.”

For fans still grappling with the cancellation, Uziel offered a small consolation: since the series was designed to be viewed in either black-and-white or color, he encouraged viewers to rewatch it in whichever format they may have missed initially, highlighting the many layers present in the show’s visual storytelling.

With Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the executive producers behind Sony’s Spider-Verse franchise, reportedly interested in continuing the story before the cancellation news broke, there was clearly a desire behind the scenes to keep Ben Reilly’s journey alive. Whether that desire is sufficient to eventually bring the character back in some capacity remains an open question.

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