New Spider-Man: Noir look reveals a shocking twist no one saw coming

2026 is shaping up to be a big year for everyone's favorite wall-crawler. Tom Holland's Peter Parker will swing back to the big screen after a five-year hiatus in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is already shaping up to be a memorable movie if set videos are anything to go by. Furthermore, Tobey Maguire's iteration of the friendly neighborhood hero is rumored to steal the spotlight in Avengers: Doomsday. Last, but certainly not least, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2 will arrive on the small screen, and a Venom stand-alone game is rumored to be unveiled.

But amidst all the exciting Spider-Man projects on the horizon, one of the most intriguing is Spider- Noir, a TV series from Amazon Prime Video and MGM+. Nicolas Cage is set to portray a somber and more violent version of the web-slinger who will drink egg creams and punch Nazis. While not much is known about this mysterious project (other than Spidey's suit looks awesome), a new poster just unveiled a big twist that very few could've seen coming.

Nicolas Cage will portray the role of Ben Reilly
in Spider-Noir

Many different people have donned the Spider-Man mantle over the years. Miles Morales is perhaps the best example, but Miguel O'Hara, Gwen Stacy, and even Otto Octavius have all swung across New York's Skyline protecting citizens and webbing up bad guys. However, Peter Parker is the man behind many different Spidey variants, including Spider-Man: Noir. That's why it came as a huge shock that the TV series will follow a very different road.

Meet Ben Reilly—a private investigator from the World War II era who'll live a secret double life as a vigilante in Spider-Noir. Superhero fans are familiar with that name, but due to a very different character altogether. See, in comic book pages, Ben Reilly is a clone of Peter Parker who has a few redeeming moments, but usually acts as an antagonist. Recently, he even adopted the "Chasm" persona, sporting a green-and-purple costume and taking advantage of a few new powers Peter doesn't have.

The fact that Ben Reilly will act as Spider-Man: Noir in the series, as opposed to Peter Parker, raises several questions. Why was this change made? Will there really be a "clone" storyline involved? Are Aunt May and Uncle Ben set to make an appearance? After all, the death of the latter is also a big plot point in the Spider-Noir comic books (albeit it happened a bit more violently than usual). Well, there might be a very underwhelming answer for all of this.

The Spider-Man licensing rights are a tangled web of their own. Peter Parker can't appear in the Marvel series released on Disney+, and he even exited the MCU for a while. With that in mind, chances are that Amazon Prime Video and MGM+ couldn't use his character either (even if the only similarity was the name). As a result, they might've needed to use the name "Ben Reilly", which is already known among superhero fans. However, it's very likely that this is just a "cosmetic change" and it won't influence the story in any major way.

As CCXP unfolds, chances are we'll get a new look at Spider-Noir and potentially dive a bit into its narrative. While it has been reported that Sandman will appear in the series, we have yet to learn who the main antagonist will be. Besides, fans are eager to learn whether Felicia Hardy and herBlack Cat nightclub will have a role to play in the story. But above all, we're all expecting an official release date. With a bit of luck, all of these answers will be answered soon.

Spider-Noir will be released on 2026.