Nicolas Cage Reacts to SPIDER-NOIR Cancellation: “One Season Is Perfect”
Nicolas Cage has weighed in on the cancellation of Spider-Noir, and while fans may be disappointed that his Marvel series won’t be coming back for another season, Cage sounds completely satisfied with what they accomplished.
“For me, one season is perfect, having said what I wanted to say with this dangerous, innovative, pop-art Spider-Man,” Cage said in a statement to Deadline, adding, “Onwards, upwards, inwards.”
The response makes sense from Cage, especially since he had already suggested during the show’s release that Spider-Noir didn’t necessarily need another season.
When asked about the possibility of continuing the series, Cage said that “whether it happens or not, all of us achieved what we set out to do, and it works on its own.”
Season 1 told a largely complete story, leaving only a few loose threads behind. While there was certainly room to continue exploring this version of Spider-Man Noir, the series wasn’t entirely dependent on getting a second season to finish what it started.
The cancellation is still a little surprising considering how well Spider-Noir was received. The series currently holds a 92% critics score and 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and scored 11 Emmy Award nominations.
Its cost likely played a part in the decision. The show reportedly carried a hefty price tag, and while viewership was respectable, it apparently didn’t reach the blockbuster level needed to justify another season.
Co-showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot, along with executive producers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal, gave the series its own identity, including the cool choice to offer viewers both color and black-and-white versions.
Spider-Noir also marked Cage’s first television role, and he drew heavily from classic Hollywood noir while developing his performance.
“I wanted to go back to those old ’30s and ’40s movies and watch some Howard Hawks and pick up the speed of delivery from those actors.
“I also thought of Double Indemnity with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck and tried to embody that essence, mannerisms and vocalization to collide it with Stan Lee’s masterpiece of Spider-Man and see what spark I could generate.
“Kind of like a Roy Lichtenstein painting, I wanted to do something that would be both new for me and hopefully for the viewer.”
That approach helped make Cage’s Spider-Noir something awesomely different from the other live-action versions of the character we’ve seen over the years.
Cage will continue working with Prime Video despite Spider-Noir coming to an end. He’ll next star in Madden as legendary football coach and broadcaster John Madden, with the movie set to premiere November 18.
The actor also intends to keep making streaming projects, something he embraced long before it became commonplace for major Hollywood stars.
“I was friendly to streaming a long time ago before it was cool. [The media would say], ‘Oh, he’s doing straight-to-streaming movies,’ like it was unheard of, like, shame on me. But now, everything is going that way,” Cage said. “I knew streaming would ultimately keep actors working and keep the work viewable.”
It would have been great to see Cage get another season to explore this strange noir corner of the Spider-Man universe, but he clearly doesn’t view the cancellation as leaving the job unfinished.
As far as Cage is concerned, Spider-Noir got the story it needed. One season, one complete run, and he’s ready to move on.