Spider-Noir's producers, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, have revealed a strange distinction that sets Ben Reilly apart from Peter Parker. Fans first met the elusive Reilly on-screen in Into the Spider-Verse, but Nicolas Cage will now transition his animated character into live-action thanks to the new Prime Video show, Spider-Noir. While Spider-Man Noir is an alternate universe of Marvel's traditional Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker (as were Spider-Punk, Spider-Gwen, and Spider-Ham), he has some vast differences from the typical Spider-Man.
It's true that both Ben Reilly and Peter Parker walked a path that led them to become Spider-People, but Reilly's persona in his private life is starkly different from the awkward, cheerful charm fans have come to know from Peter Parker. Spider-Noir producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord explained an inherent difference between the two during an interview with Collider, saying Cage's character is "like a spider pretending to be a person."
Phil Lord: "They did a wonderful job. [Nicolas Cage] is amazing. He had this great idea, which was, 'I want to play this like a spider pretending to be a person.' "
Peter Parker and Ben Reilly both exhibit spider-inspired powers as their characters, including the ability to produce webs and climb walls and ceilings. However, these spider-like elements haven't traditionally influenced any other aspect of the character's personality.
In Spider-Noir's case, this will be different. Miller expanded upon Reilly's circumstances, saying his time as The Spider has made him "more spider than person," meaning in public he feels has has to "act like a human." Lord added that Reilly even has the creepy habit of studying "what actors are doing [in movies] so he can use it in his real life:"
Chris Miller: "Like, 'After what happened to me, I'm more spider than person, and I have to act like a human in public, and in private I can be my true self.'"
Phil Lord: "So he sometimes goes to the movies, his character, and practices and studies what the actors are doing so he can use it in his real life."
Previously, Miller and Lord had expanded upon the differences between Reilly and Parker to Esquire, saying Cage's character is "older and jaded," and had a "disillusionment moment" in his past that made him this way:
Chris Miller: "This character's very different from the Peter Parker from the movies. He's older and jaded, and not afraid to punch a guy in the face drunkenly."
Phil Lord: "He already had his 'Chinatown' disillusionment moment that happened years and years ago."
Spider-Noir follows Reilly years after he's rejected his superhero life due to a personal tragedy, but is enticed to take up the mantle once again while investigating an unusual case. Cage stars along with Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Jack Huston, and Brendan Gleeson. Spider-Noir will release on MGM+ and Prime Video starting May 25, 2026.
Spider-Man Noir’s Ben Reilly Is No Peter Parker
Lord and Miller's latest comments only further differentiate the starkly varied experiences a Spider-Person can have.
Reilly is already essentially different from Parker, having grown up in 1930s New York during the Great Depression, where he became a private investigator. But these latest comments confirm the new Spider-hero is worlds away from the archetypal Spider-Man.
This approach of prioritising the spider elements over the human ones seems logical for Cage to adopt with the character, particularly as a PI's life is inherently more spider-like than Peter Parker's as a high schooler (or later photographer). His job requires Reilly to be more sleuthlike and elusive, like a physical spider, which is where his history as The Spider will be exceptionally useful.
It also makes for a more interesting character study. Spider-Man, through Peter Parker, has typically explored a superhero whose personality is very similar to his human one, but what does it look like when the superhero's persona is dominant in everyday life, and it's the human alter ego that is a performance? That's an intriguing promise that Spider-Noir seems to want to deliver on.
