Spider-Noir is a standalone live-action series from Amazon MGM Studios, released on Prime Video and MGM+ in May 2026, and it sits entirely outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is its own continuity—a Sony-produced, character-driven noir that borrows the Spider-Man Noir concept popularized by the animated Spider-Verse films and builds it into a full eight-episode crime drama.
The series stars Nicolas Cage in his first leading television role as Ben Reilly, a seasoned, down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York. Cage's Spider is a hard-drinking, downtrodden, middle-aged gumshoe who long ago abandoned his crime-fighting persona, "The Spider," after he was unable to prevent the tragic death of his beloved fiancée. The show is structured as a story about a man forced to grapple with the life and the loss he tried to bury—a detective story first and a superhero story second.
Tonally it leans fully into period noir: Depression-era New York, rain-slick streets, smoke-filled rooms, and moral ambiguity. In a distinctive presentation choice, Amazon made the series available to stream in two versions—an "Authentic Black & White" cut and a "True-Hue Full Color" cut—letting viewers choose how they experience it.
The draw, above all, is Cage. He described his take on the character as "70 percent Bogart and 30 percent Bugs Bunny," and the performance swings wildly and deliberately between registers—shifting accents, physical comedy, the occasional burst into song, and full, unrestrained Nicolas Cage intensity. Critics responded enthusiastically, praising the series as a vehicle that uses one of cinema's most electric and polarizing actors exactly as it should. It landed strong reviews, with a fresh critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and an even warmer audience reception.
Because Spider-Noir is a separate Sony/Amazon production, it does not connect to the events of the MCU and is not required preparation for Avengers: Doomsday. It is included here as a notable recent release featuring a Marvel character, but readers focused strictly on the road to Doom can treat it as optional viewing—a stylish, self-contained detour rather than a piece of the larger multiversal puzzle.