Spider-Noir Leaves No Doubt About Its Place in the Marvel Multiverse

Here we go then: spoilers ahead for Spider-Noir, so if you want to go in cold, look away now. I came to this Prime Video series half-expecting a sort of moody, old-fashioned Spider-Man that had nothing to do with all the multiverse chaos you get in the Spider-Verse movies. After all, even though it’s from the same producers, they seemed to be positioning Nicolas Cage’s Ben 'The Spider' Reilly as something apart—maybe a gentle nod to the wider Marvel web, but nothing full-on. Guess what? That idea went out the window almost immediately.

A Not-So-Subtle Place in the Multiverse

When Spider-Noir first got announced, the Marvel crowd weren’t entirely sure what to make of it. You've got Cage, back as a live-action detective with all the 1930s trappings, but everyone noticed something odd: this time the character was called Ben Reilly—not Peter Parker, the name Cage voiced in the animated Spider-Verse flicks. Cue speculation: is he reprising his previous Spidey, or are we dealing with a reboot? Turns out it's a bit of both, but not as clear cut as you might expect.

The animated Spider-Verse films, if you recall, are absolutely rammed with alternative Spider-People—from the spectacularly strange through to the classic. Cage's noir-styled detective didn't feel out of place there. But shifting him to his own show set entirely in this old-school, moody take on New York meant the usual universe-hopping would stick out like a sore thumb. So how to handle the whole 'shared universe' issue?

One Foot in, One Foot out: The Show's Approach

The answer comes faster than you’d expect. The very first episode, 'Step Into My Office', opens with Ben Reilly himself reflecting on his place in the cosmic order. Now, have a look at this line, which practically hangs a lantern on the topic:

"Someone once asked me what universe this was. A strange question that’s stuck with me all these years later. All I could say for sure was it was the only one I knew of. And that was as true then as it is now."

There's a lot to unpack there. Basically, Ben’s met a multiverse-jumper—although he didn’t twig what was happening at the time. He’s had one brush with someone from another reality (he doesn’t even clock that it’s another Spider at all), but after that, nothing. No portal chases, no cameos from Spider-Pigs or animated Gwen Stacys. And he seems perfectly content not knowing there’s a whole load of universes out there.

If you like to speculate (and who doesn’t?), the most obvious candidate for Ben’s mysterious cosmic visitor is America Chavez, played by Xochitl Gomez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Her thing is being able to punch holes between universes, and her powers are famously unreliable. Plausible, then, she could've blipped into Spider-Noir's gritty New York, had a cryptic chat, and then vanished—with Ben none the wiser.

Keeping It Simple—For a Good Reason

The bit I really appreciated: Ben Reilly basically tells us—flat out—that he isn’t interested, and probably never will be, in the big Marvel crossover business. 'This is my New York, this is the only world I care about,' is the upshot. Since it’s the main character saying it right out of the gate, it sends a fairly clear message that Spider-Noir is going to stay as its own thing, no matter how many other realities are swirling around elsewhere in Marvel's endless content machine.

Frankly, thank god for that. Some of us have hit our limit with multiversal plots for now—there’s only so many times you can watch one character blink across realities before your brain starts to glaze over. What Marvel actually needs, and hasn’t mustered for ages, is a decent live-action Spider-Man project that remembers you can tell a story without roping in a dozen alternate versions or forcing in an Avengers tie-in. This series does exactly that. Ben’s monologue at the beginning more or less locks the door to the multiverse—apart from his one mysterious encounter, it's just him and his rain-soaked, gangster-ridden city.

Cast (so far):

• Nicolas Cage as Ben 'The Spider' Reilly