Spider-Man Series Showrunner Finally Explains Controversial Peter Parker Decision

There's a new live-action Spider-Man series headed to Prime Video, but it won't be the Spider-Man that Marvel fans know. In fact, it won't be Spider-Man or Peter Parker at all. Instead, in Spider-Noir​​​​​​, Nicolas Cage plays Ben Reilly, who becomes a masked vigilante known as "The Spider."

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Oren Uziel explains why Cage is playing Ben and not Peter. "Peter Parker is so synonymous to me with a young character and a coming-of-age story," Uziel says. "The Ben Reilly character allows it to immediately distinguish itself from a Peter Parker story."

Spider-Noir's Spider Is No Peter Parker

Cage's Ben Reilly is certainly very different from young Peter Parker, and even different from the Spider-Man Noir character he voiced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. In Spider-Noir, Reilly is a seasoned private investigator operating in New York City in the 1930s, having given up his vigilante persona years ago. It seems like something occurs to bring The Spider back out of Ben Reilly.

Uziel goes on to confirm that Peter Parker doesn't exist in Spider-Noir... this season. "Not yet," Uziel says. "Not in season 1, I don't think." Could that mean a Peter Parker debut down the line? That's one more mystery for Spider-Noir to solve.

Uziel and his team decided to call Ben Reilly's alter ego "The Spider" to emulate the names of pulp heroes like The Shadow and The Phantom. The Spider will face villains such as crime lord Silvermane, whose bodyguard should be familiar to fans of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies.

Spider-Noir Is a Very Different Spider-Man Experience

Spider-Noir has a darker-than-expected rating for a Spider-Man project, and every episode of the series will have two different versions: "True-Hue" full color and black-and-white. It's all part of Uziel trying to channel the spirit of Humphrey Bogart into Spider-Noir.

"The thing that I said a lot from start to finish was, 'We're really trying to make an old Bogart movie,'" Uziel said. "It's just that Bogart happens to be Spider-Man."

Along with Cage, Spider-Noir stars Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola, Jack Huston, Brendan Gleeson. Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot are co-showrunners.

Though Cage's turn as Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse inspired Prime Video's live-action Spider-Noir series, Uziel previously confirmed that he isn't playing the same character in the new live-action series. Instead, Uziel says, they set out “to make a version of Spider-Man that no one had ever seen before."

“Same character, different universe,” Uziel told Empire Magazine. “It’s a different flavor of that character, even though it’s still Nic’s voice. It’s not a continuation of Into the Spider-Verse. Once Phil and Chris introduced the idea of the multiverse, I think you’re allowed to take things and make them your own.”

Spider-Noir debuts on Prime Video on May 27.