Nicolas Cage Leads a Stacked ‘Spider-Noir’ Cast That Marvel Fans Did Not See Coming

Amazon Prime Video is swinging into summer with one of its most ambitious superhero projects yet. ‘Spider-Noir‘ premieres on MGM+ on May 25, followed by its global Prime Video debut on May 27, with Nicolas Cage stepping back into the fedora and trench coat of the hard-boiled detective Ben Reilly from 1930s New York City. The buzz around this one has been building for years, and now that the full cast picture is clear, it is easy to see why expectations are sky high.

The series was originally announced in February 2023, when Variety reported it was being developed at Amazon with Oren Uziel as showrunner and the Academy Award-winning ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ team of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal attached as executive producers.

After a long road through a writers strike delay, a title change, and even a production halt caused by the Los Angeles wildfires, ‘Spider-Noir’ is finally here, and the ensemble it has assembled is genuinely remarkable.

Nicolas Cage Steps Into the Role of Ben Reilly

Marking the Oscar winner’s first leading TV series role, Cage plays Ben Reilly, an aging and down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero. That alone is a headline worth celebrating. Cage previously gave the character his voice in animated form, but seeing him embody the role physically on a prestige television canvas is an entirely different proposition.

In a notable distinction from other Spider-Man adaptations, ‘Spider-Noir’ will not refer to its title character as Spider-Man at all. Instead, he goes by “The Spider,” a nod to pulp heroes of that era such as The Phantom or The Shadow. It is the kind of creative choice that signals the show is genuinely trying to carve out its own identity rather than simply ride on the coattails of the franchise.

Cage adopts a James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart cadence for Ben, keeping the performance period-appropriate and genre-faithful without tipping into self-parody. Early reviews suggest this is some of the most committed work the famously unhinged actor has delivered in years, which is saying something given his recent creative renaissance.

The Supporting Cast Brings Genuine Star Power to 1930s New York

In addition to Cage, the series regulars include Lamorne Morris, Brendan Gleeson, Abraham Popoola, Li Jun Li, Karen Rodriguez, and Jack Huston. That is not just a supporting cast, that is a full ensemble of actors capable of anchoring their own shows.

Morris plays Robbie Robertson, described as a dedicated journalist trying to make it in 1930s New York with the odds stacked against him, a man willing to do whatever is necessary for his career as well as for Reilly, his best friend. It is a role that places Morris at the emotional center of the story alongside Cage, and the dynamic between the two has already been flagged by critics as one of the series’ genuine highlights.

Li Jun Li plays Cat Hardy, a reimagined version of the classic Spider-Man supporting character known as the Black Cat, here recast as a nightclub singer with a dangerous secret who draws Reilly into the underworld conspiracy at the heart of the series. Li Jun Li arrives in the role fresh off widespread acclaim for her work in Ryan Coogler’s 2025 film ‘Sinners’, making her one of the most exciting new additions to the Marvel television world.

Brendan Gleeson and Jack Huston Play Iconic Marvel Villains

Brendan Gleeson is playing Silvermane, the Marvel Comics villain originally created by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., and John Buscema, who first appeared in 1969’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ no. 73. In the series, Silvermane has been the subject of repeated assassination attempts, which may be part of a broader scheme at play.

Gleeson brings an almost theatrical menace to everything he touches, and the prospect of him squaring off against Cage in a Prohibition-era crime saga is the kind of casting that sounds almost too good to be true.

Jack Huston plays Flint Marko, better known as Sandman, a classic Spider-Man villain reimagined for the noir setting. Having two formidable antagonists operating across the season suggests the writers have structured ‘Spider-Noir’ with genuine complexity rather than a simple hero-versus-one-bad-guy formula.

Silvermane employs comic book villains Sandman, Tombstone, and Megawatt as his muscle throughout the season, building a proper rogues’ gallery for Cage’s Ben Reilly to work through across the eight episodes. For fans of the source material, seeing that constellation of characters translated into a 1930s gangster setting is going to feel like a very specific kind of treat.

The Creative Team Behind ‘Spider-Noir’ Is the Real Secret Weapon

Emmy Award winner Harry Bradbeer, known for ‘Fleabag’ and ‘Killing Eve’, directed and executive produced the first two episodes, while Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. The involvement of Bradbeer in particular is a significant indicator of the show’s tonal ambitions. He is not a director who makes ordinary television.

Executive producer Phil Lord told Deadline that despite the show’s shadowy premise, it is not intended as an overly downbeat watch, describing it as a big character drama, an amazing mystery, and big event television, but one that is also light on its feet. That balance between genuine emotional weight and pulpy entertainment energy is exactly the tightrope that the best Marvel projects have always walked most successfully.

The series will be presented in both black-and-white and color, with the dual-format release giving audiences the choice of experiencing 1930s New York through the lens of classic noir cinema or in full saturated period color. It is a genuinely inventive presentation strategy that speaks to how seriously the creative team has thought about what kind of viewing experience ‘Spider-Noir’ should deliver.

With a cast this deep, a creative team this pedigreed, and a premise that dares to do something genuinely different with the Spider-Man mythology, ‘Spider-Noir’ may be the most compelling argument yet that the best Marvel stories are no longer being told in cinemas. If you have been watching the casting announcements pile up over the past two years, we would love to know which member of this ensemble you are most excited to see share the screen with Nicolas Cage when the series drops.