Amazon’s ‘Spider-Noir’ Wins Five Emmys Just Days After Cancellation

Awards season often brings unexpected twists, and this year’s Creative Arts Emmys delivered a particularly striking one. The two-day event, held at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, dedicated its second night to honoring technical and craft categories that typically don’t receive much attention during primetime.

Streaming shows made a significant impact across sound, visual effects, stunts, and design categories, with several series taking home multiple awards. However, one story stood out not for the winners, but for the timing surrounding them.

‘Spider-Noir’ secured five Emmy Awards on Sunday night, just two days after Prime Video and MGM+ announced the cancellation of the series following its first season. The show, featuring Nicolas Cage, won accolades for cinematography, sound editing, special visual effects, stunt coordination, and main title design, dominating nearly every craft category it was nominated for.

With a total of 11 nominations, the most for any series from the streamer this year, the cancellation feels even more disheartening given the show’s evident technical prowess. ‘Spider-Noir’ premiered on Prime Video in May as part of Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios’ initiative to expand Marvel character narratives under the Sony umbrella.

Backstage, supervising stunt coordinator Freddy Bouciegues and stunt coordinator Hugh Aodh O’Brien humorously addressed the odd timing of celebrating wins for a canceled show, joking about whether they hoped Prime Video might reconsider its decision while speaking with press backstage. It’s a bittersweet moment that only awards season can create.

‘Spider-Noir’ isn’t the only show to win awards post-cancellation this year. Both ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ and ‘Palm Royale’ also received multiple honors despite being out of production, indicating that the Television Academy was willing to recognize canceled series this year.

The cast of the show features a lineup that reads like a wish list for genre fans, with Cage starring alongside Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola, Jack Huston, and Brendan Gleeson. Co-showrunners and executive producers Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot, along with director and executive producer Harry Bradbeer, known for his work on ‘Fleabag’ and ‘Killing Eve,’ helmed the first two episodes.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also served as executive producers through their Lord Miller banner, alongside Aditya Sood and Dan Shear, with Amy Pascal producing through Pascal Pictures. This impressive roster of talent behind a show that never progressed beyond its debut season only amplifies the frustration many fans have expressed since the cancellation announcement.

This year’s Creative Arts Emmys also held additional significance due to structural changes. Several categories that were traditionally presented during the main Primetime broadcast, including supporting acting in a limited or anthology series, were incorporated into this year’s Creative Arts ceremony. This adjustment provided craft-focused winners like ‘Spider-Noir’ a larger platform than they might have had in previous years, despite not having a televised broadcast of their own.

Sunday’s ceremony was not aired live, with the full two-day event scheduled to broadcast together on September 12. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will follow shortly after on September 14, airing live on NBC.

For a series that no longer has a future on Prime Video, five Emmy wins serve as a peculiar farewell, showcasing that the industry recognized the show’s craftsmanship even as its narrative came to an abrupt halt. Whether these wins will reignite discussions about the cancellation remains uncertain, but for now, ‘Spider-Noir’ exits the small screen with impressive accolades to its name.

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