Spider-Noir shows – With Ben Reilly at the center, Spider-Noir opens by hinting at the Spider-Verse and the multiverse, then swiftly moves into a self-contained story of grief, identity, and redemption—offering Sony a clearer model for future Spider-Man spin-offs.
A hard-boiled city feel hangs over the first minutes of Spider-Noir. but the show makes its biggest move the moment it introduces Ben Reilly. In the very first episode. voiceover narration from Ben Reilly. played by Nicolas Cage. acknowledges the existence of the Spider-Verse—or possibly the MCU’s multiverse—through a single allusion that sounds like it belongs to a much larger cosmic web.
Yet the series doesn’t stay up in the clouds. Following that prologue. Spider-Noir drops readers into Reilly’s life long after his origins. when he has already given up his superhero alter-ego after the death of his girlfriend. Ruby. Ruby is played by Amanda Schull. Instead of building every episode around multiverse complications. the show partially excels by focusing on Reilly’s emotional arc and his journey to rediscover himself as the hero he was always meant to be.
The multiverse nod matters, but it also sets up a key tension that the series chooses not to overuse. Reilly’s narration suggests he’s previously encountered heroes or individuals from other dimensions, and perhaps other versions of Spider-Man. Series creator and showrunner Oren Uziel told Empire that the Spider of the television series and Into the Spider-Verse’s Spider-Man Noir hail from different universes. Even so. that early reference keeps the door cracked open—enough to feel connected. without turning every story beat into setup for something bigger.
Spider-Noir also leans into the same creative neighborhood as Into the Spider-Verse. Its executive producers. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. are also credited with creatively handling the Spider-Verse film franchise. tying the tone and sensibility together even when the universes aren’t being treated as one continuous storyline.
What follows is where Sony’s Spider-Man universe—or rather. the version it has been trying to build—feels most starkly contrasted. Several earlier Sony spin-offs have been described as poor in execution. and characters from the Spider-Man rogues’ gallery have been unable to meet or interact with the web-slinger because a revamped Peter Parker. played by Tom Holland. is described as a definitive part of the MCU. Against that backdrop. Spider-Noir’s self-contained direction reads like an argument in favor of telling the story in front of you.
The show’s approach also highlights a specific problem with Sony’s earlier strategy: turning supervillains into antiheroes or solo leads in their own franchises while being hindered by a lack of interaction with Spider-Man. Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter are described as making vague allusions to Spider-Man. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is described as literally setting up a crossover between Venom/Eddie Brock. played by Tom Hardy. and the MCU version of Spider-Man—but that crossover never happens.
Spider-Noir abandons sequel-baiting and crossovers as a necessity. It’s built around a self-contained storyline with a Spider-themed hero, and that choice is part of what makes it feel like a cleaner path forward.
The way Spider-Noir handles its Spider-Man universe questions—hinting at broader dimensions, then refusing to make the plot live and die by them—creates a steady baseline: the series can feel connected without being trapped.
Looking ahead. the next step in Sony’s Spider-Man pipeline is framed as obvious when Spider-Noir is used as the model. The future spin-off being pointed to is Spider-Man 2099 in Across the Spider-Verse. Spider-Noir is set in an alt-history version of 1930s New York City. a pulpy setting with a hard-boiled. film-noir tone. and it’s far removed from any contemporary era. That distance is presented as freeing the show from having to reference current events or tie back into other parts of Spider-Man continuity.
In the same spirit, a Spider-Man 2099 show could offer a vision of the future. Because it takes place so far into the future, Spider-Man 2099 could primarily focus on Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man in the year 2099, who has never before been depicted in live-action.
Spider-Noir is positioned as a positive step forward for the greater Spider-Man franchise: proof that an alternate reality version of Spider-Man can work in a live-action. episodic television format. The pitch for Sony is straightforward—tell a compelling. singular story about the chosen Spider avatar first. without forcing crossovers that may never come to pass. In that telling, Spider-Noir isn’t just another entry in the franchise. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best path to bigger moments is to commit fully to the smaller one in front of you.
Spider-Noir Nicolas Cage Ben Reilly Ruby Amanda Schull Spider-Verse multiverse Oren Uziel Phil Lord Christopher Miller Tom Holland Spider-Man universe Morbius Madame Web Kraven the Hunter Venom: Let There Be Carnage Tom Hardy Miguel O'Hara Spider-Man 2099 Across the Spider-Verse 1930s New York City film noir