Nicolas Cage Crowns the Best Spider-Man — And It’s Not Tom Holland

Nicolas Cage is back in the Spider-spotlight—this time, not just voicing a noir cartoon oddball, but actually suiting up for a brand new series, 'Spider-Noir'. And he’s already dropped a bit of a curveball whilst chatting about who he reckons is the best Spider-Man to ever swing onto the big screen.

Cage Ranks His Fave Spider-Man (and Dodges the MCU Hype)

While talking up 'Spider-Noir', Complex put the question to Cage: has he sat through every Spider-Man film? Typical Cage—he sidestepped answering directly, then went full praise mode for Andrew Garfield, calling him his favourite web-slinger of the bunch. Literally:

"I thought Garfield was a really great Spider-Man. I thought he did a really terrific job. He’s a marvelous actor."

That’s the pick, then—Nicolas Cage thinks Garfield did it best. Not Tom Holland from the Marvel machine, and not Toby Maguire either, for that matter. Neither got a look in.

Awkward Game Show Vibes

Bit of an odd turn in the chat, by the way: the interviewer attempted to drag Cage into a round of 'shag, marry, kill' (classic), using the three cinematic Spider-Men as options. Problem was, Cage seemed to have zero idea what the rules were. He kept doubling down on Garfield as “the best Spider-Man”, but when pushed about who he'd like to 'marry', he looked utterly baffled. To be fair, not everyone needs to play playground games about fictional superheroes.

'Spider-Noir' Isn’t Just Another Peter Parker Rehash

For anyone trying to place Cage’s new series within the tangle of Spider-Man timelines, here’s the deal:

• The series is entirely separate from both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all the Spider-Verse animated films—no links to Tom Holland or the cartoon Miles Morales stuff.
• Cage plays Ben Reilly, who’s not Peter Parker, though comic fans will know Reilly crops up as a major character in Spidey lore.
• The origin story’s been tinkered with as well. It’s not the classic ‘bitten by a radioactive spider’ deal. Instead, Cage’s Reilly gets his powers after being bitten by a prisoner involved in a dodgy supersoldier experiment during the Great War. For context, comic Spider-Noir gets his abilities from a swarm of spiders unleashed from a mystical idol in an antiques warehouse.

Bottom line: Cage’s Spider-Noir is doing its own thing, both onscreen and in the wider world of Spider-Man opinions—don’t expect any MCU references or traditional Parker origin stories.