Spider-Noir viewers have a big decision to make when the Marvel series launches this spring, and star Nicolas Cage has the answer.
Spider-Noir is a unique take on the Spider-Verse, revolving around a hard-boiled version of the character who makes his living as a private eye.
Having voiced one Spider-Noir during 2018 movie Into the Spider-Verse, Cage is playing a different iteration of the character in the live-action series – namely, Ben Reilly.
But the big question hanging over the series is which version should you watch, as Spider-Noir will drop simultaneously in both black and white and color on MGM+.
Nicolas Cage recommends the black & white Spider-Noir
The color version of Spider-Man resembles Marvel’s bright and breezy comic strips, while the black and white edition pays homage to the story’s film noir roots, making it a tough choice. But Nic Cage has a favorite.
“I understand why they presented it in both, and I suggested it in the beginning,” Cage told Esquire. “I remember when Amazon was first thinking about doing it, they were nervous about black and white. And I said, ‘You don’t have to only do it in black and white. You could do it in color as well because this is for all ages.’
“For people that haven’t had a lot of experience with black and white, they can enjoy the color. And the color is beautiful. But the black and white is what I was drawn to.”
Cage then elaborated on that decision, stating: “It matches my concept of how to portray a film noir. But the truth is, they both work and they’re beautiful for different reasons. The color is super saturated and gorgeous. I think teenage viewers will appreciate the color, but I also want them to have the option.
“If they want to experience the concept in black and white, maybe that would instill some interest in them to look at earlier movies and enjoy that as an art form as well.”
How the new Spider-Show was colorized
Co-showrunner Oren Uziel told the outlet that the color version isn’t typical of other Marvel shows, and the process to make it happen wasn’t straightforward. “It looks like a black and white film that’s been kind of colorized. That was one of the inspirations for how to do it,” he said.
Esquire was given an insight as to how that retro look was achieved, explaining: “Rather than record the series in monochrome and paint-by-number the images after the fact, as early colorization did, the on-set cameras captured digital footage that was split and processed into the two different formats.
“They then adjusted the dials to create something that had every color of the rainbow, but the feel of something bygone.”
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