“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.”

– Raymond Chandler

Spider-Noir is the best thing to happen to Marvel streaming since…well, Daredevil: Born Again. So yeah, not that long ago. I’ve only watched the first three – of eight – episodes so far. Because this is too good to binge. It should be savored. It may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I LOVE that it’s an homage to hardboiled Pulp and Noir. Which you might know I blog about once in awhile…

No spoilers here (if I can help it). I just wanna talk about the Noir vibe a bit. I’ll do a full blown post after I watch it all (and when some spoilers will be okay). These folks absolutely know their source material. And I’m talking about Pulp, not Marvel.

A little Spider-Man Noir history first. The character appeared in a short comic book run in 2009, which I had certainly never heard of. But I’m not a comic book guy.

Then, back in 2018, the first of the animated Spider-Verse movies came out, with Miles Morales as the main Spider-Man. In the same scene with Spider-Ham (he still cracks me up), Peter and Miles meet a Nicholas Cage-voiced Spider-Man Noir. He has a few scenes after that.

I knew nothing about that mysterious character, but I was immediately intrigued by the obviously hardboiled private eye iteration. Flash forward to 2026, and Spider-Noir is the coolest new thing from the Marvel-verse in years. Cage is back in a live-action version, and his Spider-Man Noir is played differently than in the animated movie. But that’s fine. You should look at the ‘Verse version as just a starting point to introduce the character.

Spider-Noir is an eight episode series streaming on Prime (Screw MGM+ and yet another money-grab by Amazon). Cage is Ben Reilly a nineteen-thirties private eye in a Spider-Verse New York City. He was the only superhero in the city, and a tragedy in his past has led him to forsake his powers (though his Spidey-sense still goes off). This Spider-Man hero is known as The Spider, which was an in-house name for the character. The Spider was a Pulp hero, whom Stan Lee cited as an inspiration for creating Spider-Man. I’m not ready to delve into that influence, yett.

Okay. Go watch the first episode if you want more.

COLOR OR B&W?

You can choose whether to watch in color or black and white. You can even switch during an episode. Because of the Noir nature of the show, this is a really cool feature. And both ways look great.

I am watching an episode in black and white. And after each one, I go back and re-watch it in color.

There’s something to the vibe in b&w that isn’t present in color. Noir is meant to be – but it is NOT completely mandatory – to be in black and white. And I think it suits Spider-Noir. Especially in enhancing the other homage elements.

I like it in color. It’s akin to The Untouchables, to me. It’s a black and white era, but it looks GOOD in color. And it totally works. I honestly feel you get two different experiences from the two methods. And both are worthwhile. As a noted Pulp guy, I let the b&w sink in. I get immersed in that Black Mask-style hardboiled PI vibe.

I would not dis someone for only watching it in color. It’s a terrific series that way. But for anybody who likes that old-style PI genre, Marvel really accomplished something in 2026. I appreciate it.

CARMEDY

Reid is a typical under-employed shamus, barely keeping the business going and buried in bills. Which his secretary reminds him of. A man named Carmedy comes in and hires Reilly to get proof his wife is cheating on him. My Pulpy Sense was tingling.

The b&w vibe obviously screams Pulp movies of the thirties and forties. As a committed Bogie guy, I was getting Philip Marlowe’s Raymond Chandler (Cage isn’t playing Reilly with a Sam Spade toughness).

Carmady was an early version of Marlowe, in Chandler’s short stories for Black Mask (following his Mallory character). He more-or-less became John Dalmas when Chandler moved to Dime Detective. And Dalmas was pretty much what we got with Marlowe, for the novels. There were a LOT of names they could have used, and a one-letter difference from one of Chandler’s early gumshoes, seems more than just coincidence. And we get it right out of the gate.

HOW ABOUT CAT HARDY?

We are used to damsels in distress in Spider-Man. They figure prominently in Noir, though they are frequently up to something, and they aren’t exactly just looking to be rescued. Often they’re manipulating the PI.

Cat Hardy is that Noir staple, the femme fatale. Being a torch singer adds to her allure. Her character has a couple different roles, and Reilly has to figure out ‘who she is,’ as it were. (No spoilers, remember?)

I quickly got an impression of Anna May Wong. Wong was the first Chinese-American movie star. She rose to prominence in a time when Caucasians were used for Asian parts. And she was a woman to boot. Wong was a trailblazer, decades ahead of her time.

I know her from Reginald Owens’ A Study in Scarlet. Which has nothing to do with Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel of the same name. It’s actually Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians (and a few other names).

This is my first time seeing Li Jun Li (I quit the opening scene of Babylon). She soars as Cat. And watching Reilly be ensorcelled by her singing at the club, is a testament to both actors. It’s a great scene. She’s not clearly copying Wong in look or manner, but I do get a sense of the influence. And she’s absolutely shining in her scenes.

BOGIE

Cage is playing a world-weary private eye, just getting by. This is Philip Marlowe, not Sam Spade or the Continental Op: and DEFINITELY not Mike Hammer, or Race Williams. And while Bogart defined Sam Spade in John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (the third attempt to get it right, and one never to be bettered), Cage isn’t doing Spade. He’s channeling his inner Bogie, from Chandler’s The Big Sleep.

It’s there in the first two episodes. And I about jumped out of my seat near the end of episode two, when Reilly pretends to be a maintenance man to get inside his old apartment.

There’s  the popular ‘You do sell books, hmm?’ scene in The Big Sleep. Bogie turns up his hat, puts on glasses, and acts like a total book collector nerd, to get info inside AG Geiger’s bookstore. He finishes with the ‘Hmm’ bit again and hurries off. It’s a terrific scene with Sonia Darrin (Agnes).

And they TOTALLY used this scene for Cage at his old apartment. He turns up the brim of his hat and emulates Bogie, swapping out book banter for building maintenance shop talk (Bogie researched his info. Cage is making his up). And Cage even finishes on “Mmm” and walks out of the room. It’s frigging brilliant homage! You don’t have to know The Big Sleep to appreciate Cage’s scene. It’s fun, and it leads to a key plot point. But knowing they chose a Bogart scene to move the story along, is simply wonderful to me.

In episode 3, Cage’s baggy cheeks (a Bogart trademark) looked more evident, and his voice even sounds more like Bogie in that one. The series is wearing Ben Reilly down, and I think that’s part of how his character is changing. And it’s leading to more of a Bogart vibe.

It’s not a straight ‘copy Bogie.’ Bogart always played it tougher than Cage does. But of all the hardboiled dicks they could have modeled on (and there are a LOT), I can see the Bogart Marlowe here.

SILVERMANE

Brendan Cleeson is a mix of Al Capone and Kingpin. Which is not a bad combo for a Marvel Noir series. He’s a big guy, though not physically imposing like Kingpin. But he’s a ruthless gangster determined to crush his enemies. Reilly is going to have to beat him with smarts. He’s not a shootout with the bad guy type-of-PI. There are no layers to Silvermane. He’s a terrible guy and we hope he gets what he deserves.

MUTANTS

Continuing to minimize giving away info, the Marvel element is present in that there are mutants. The Spider was the only hero in town, and when he quit, Silvermane ran amuck pretty much unchecked. So, superheroes are rare. And it’s not an X-Men world with schools of mutants. I’ll let you explore the rest of the mutant line, yourself. But it fits in with me. This is Marvel Noir. It works.

MISC

The tagline is ‘With no power, comes no responsibility.’ That’s a pretty cool twist on the famous Spider-Man line. It’s clear early on that there’s a redemption/restoration theme coming, with Reilly/The Spider. I’m only three episodes in, so I’m not giving anything away here. But as Reilly both grows increasingly worn down, and re-engages with his superhero past, something is happening. He’s not just gonna drink himself away into oblivion (kinda like Dashiell Hammett did).

I come to Spider-Noir from a different place than most people do. And while I have repeatedly said I hated WandaVision (even though I’m a fan of those old TV shows it incorporated), I don’t necessarily dislike something for being different from the ‘formula.’

This is definitely not most people’s Spider-Man. And it’s not the normal Marvel. But I’m more excited about this than I’ve been about any other Marvel thing for a while; and I really liked season one of Loki.

We’ll see how the Spider-Man arc plays out. But Marvel gave this to people who know Noir, and the Pulps. And I think they’re doing a terrific job utilizing the genre. I’m picking up on this stuff as I watch. I’m not actively looking for it. But it’s there. And I’m sure there’s more to come.

I’ll surely have watched a couple more episodes by the time you read this. (Well, I did manage to watch ep 4, anyways).

Spider-Noir is 5/5 for me so far.

And back in 2024, I shared a lot of Marvel thoughts in this Ten Things. Includes a link to the follow-up.

Prior Posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2026 (2)

Elliott Gould Reads Chandler
All My Steeger Books Intros

Prior Posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2025 (12)

Will Murray on Dash(iell Hammet) and (Lester) Dent
Shelfie – Dashiell Hammett
Windy City Pulp & Paper Fest – 2025
Will Murray on Who was N.V. Romero?
Conan – The Phoenix in the Sword in Weird Tales
More of Robert E. Howard’s Kirby O’Donnell
More Weird Menace from Robert E. Howard – Conrad and Kirowan
Hardboiled Gaming- LA Noire
Western Noir: Hell on Wheels
T.T. Flynn’s Mr Maddox
Dashiell Hammettt’s The Scorched Face (my intro)
Will Murray on Raymond Chandler’s Other Lost Stories?

Prior Posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2024 Series (11)

Will Murray on Other Lost Raymond Chandler Stories?
Will Murray on Dashiell Hammett’s Elusive Glass Key
Ya Gotta Ask – Reprise
Rex Stout’s “The Mother of Invention”
Dime Detective, August, 1941
John D. MacDonald’s “Ring Around the Readhead”
Harboiled Manila – Raoul Whitfield’s Jo Gar
7 Upcoming A (Black) Gat in the Hand Attractions
Paul Cain’s Fast One (my intro)
Dashiell Hammett – The Girl with the Silver Eyes (my intro)
Richard Demming’s Manville Moon
More Thrilling Adventures from REH

Prior Posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2023 Series (15)

Back Down those Mean Streets in 2023
Will Murray on Hammett Didn’t Write “The Diamond Wager”
Dashiell Hammett – ZigZags of Treachery (my intro)
Ten Pulp Things I Think I Think
Evan Lewis on Cleve Adams
T,T, Flynn’s Mike & Trixie (The ‘Lost Intro’)
John Bullard on REH’s Rough and Ready Clowns of the West – Part I (Breckenridge Elkins)
John Bullard on REH’s Rough and Ready Clowns of the West – Part II
William Patrick Murray on Supernatural Westerns, and Crossing Genres
Erle Stanley Gardner’s ‘Getting Away With Murder (And ‘A Black (Gat)’ turns 100!)
James Reasoner on Robert E. Howard’s Trail Towns of the old West
Frank Schildiner on Solomon Kane
Paul Bishop on The Fists of Robert E. Howard
John Lawrence’s Cass Blue
Dave Hardy on REH’s El Borak

Prior posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2022 Series (16)
Asimov – Sci Fi Meets the Police Procedural
The Adventures of Christopher London
Weird Menace from Robert E. Howard
Spicy Adventures from Robert E. Howard
Thrilling Adventures from Robert E. Howard
Norbert Davis’ “The Gin Monkey”
Tracer Bullet
Shovel’s Painful Predicament
Back Porch Pulp #1
Wally Conger on ‘The Hollywood Troubleshooter Saga’
Arsenic and Old Lace
David Dodge
Glen Cook’s Garrett, PI
John Leslie’s Key West Private Eye
Back Porch Pulp #2
Norbert Davis’ Max Latin

Prior posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2021 Series (7 )

The Forgotten Black Masker – Norbert Davis
Appaloosa
A (Black) Gat in the Hand is Back!
Black Mask – March, 1932
Three Gun Terry Mack & Carroll John Daly
Bounty Hunters & Bail Bondsmen
Norbert Davis in Black Mask – Volume 1

Prior posts in A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2020 Series (21)
Hardboiled May on TCM
Some Hardboiled streaming options
Johnny O’Clock (Dick Powell)
Hardboiled June on TCM
Bullets or Ballots (Humphrey Bogart)
Phililp Marlowe – Private Eye (Powers Boothe)
Cool and Lam
All Through the Night (Bogart)
Dick Powell as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
Hardboiled July on TCM
YTJD – The Emily Braddock Matter (John Lund)
Richard Diamond – The Betty Moran Case (Dick Powell)
Bold Venture (Bogart & Bacall)
Hardboiled August on TCM
Norbert Davis – ‘Have one on the House’
with Steven H Silver: C.M. Kornbluth’s Pulp
Norbert Davis – ‘Don’t You Cry for Me’
Talking About Philip Marlowe
Steven H Silver Asks you to Name This Movie
Cajun Hardboiled – Dave Robicheaux
More Cool & Lam from Hard Case Crime

A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2019 Series (15)
Back Deck Pulp Returns
A (Black) Gat in the Hand Returns
Will Murray on Doc Savage
Hugh B. Cave’s Peter Kane
Paul Bishop on Lance Spearman
A Man Called Spade
Hard Boiled Holmes
Duane Spurlock on T.T. Flynn
Andrew Salmon on Montreal Noir
Frank Schildiner on The Bad Guys of Pulp
Steve Scott on John D. MacDonald’s ‘Park Falkner’
William Patrick Murray on The Spider
John D. MacDonald & Mickey Spillane
Norbert Davis goes West(ern)
Bill Crider on The Brass Cupcake

A (Black) Gat in the Hand – 2018 Series (32)
George Harmon Coxe
Raoul Whitfield
Some Hard Boiled Anthologies
Frederick Nebel’s Donahue
Thomas Walsh
Black Mask – January, 1935
Norbert Davis’ Ben Shaley
D.L. Champion’s Rex Sackler
Dime Detective – August, 1939
Back Deck Pulp #1
W.T. Ballard’s Bill Lennox
Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Phantom Crook (Ed Jenkins)
Day Keene
Black Mask – October, 1933
Back Deck Pulp #2
Black Mask – Spring, 2017
Erle Stanley Gardner’s ‘The Shrieking Skeleton’
Frank Schildiner’s ‘Max Allen Collins & The Hard Boiled Hero’
A (Black) Gat in the Hand: William Campbell Gault
A (Black) Gat in the Hand: More Cool & Lam From Hard Case Crime
MORE Cool & Lam!!!!
Thomas Parker’s ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’
Joe Bonadonna’s ‘Hardboiled Film Noir’ (Part One)
Joe Bonadonna’s ‘Hardboiled Film Noir’ (Part Two)
William Patrick Maynard’s ‘The Yellow Peril’
Andrew P Salmon’s ‘Frederick C. Davis’
Rory Gallagher’s ‘Continental Op’
Back Deck Pulp #3
Back Deck Pulp #4
Back Deck Pulp #5
Joe ‘Cap’ Shaw on Writing
Back Deck Pulp #6
The Black Mask Dinner

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every Summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.