As Spider-Man’s movie future remains mysterious, there is a long-awaited version of him the character walking towards the TV. That would be Spider-Man Noir, the fan favorite 1930s inspired hero from Earth 90214, and he will be played by the one and only Nicolas Cage in live action. Fans have started to see what he’ll look like, and if you’re not familiar with the character, there are some major differences between Spider-Man Noir and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man from the main universe, including their respective origins.

While the main universe that Spider-Man calls home today, Spider-Man Noir is set in the middle of the Great Depression, which takes place in 1930s New York. This Peter Parker is also raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben and he also loses his Uncle Ben in a tragic way, although what led to this and how it happened differ drastically.

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In this version of events, Peter’s uncle Ben is gruesomely murdered by The Goblin (aka Norman Osborne) in retaliation for staging a strike on the Goblin’s business. Although there is no proof, Peter knows that it was the Goblin who killed Uncle Ben and tries to figure out how to prove it. This leads to a meeting where they are saved by Ben Urich of The Daily Bugle, who takes Peter on as a protégé.

Spider Bite

This sets the stage for Peter to get his powers, but again, things are much darker in tone than in the main universe. In this story, Peter discovers that Ben is a drug addict after finding him passed out, and thus intercepts a tip about one of the Goblin’s shipments. Peter makes his way to the pier, and thanks to a fallen spider idol, a lot of spiders are released, and one of them bites Peter.

This turns out to be an ordinary spider, of course, and the god-like entity imbues Peter with the powers of a spider we’ve all come to know. He has his trademark strength, speed, reflexes and spider-sense, and he can also create webs from his wrists. This causes Peter to return to Ben and confront him, learning that he was blackmailed by Osborn to feed his drug habit.

After this encounter, Peter designs his Spider-Man costume based on Uncle Ben’s airman uniform and is determined to take down the Goblin. Unfortunately, he no longer has Urich to rely on, as Urich is dead when he next finds him, and then he becomes involved in the death of Jonah Jameson, but we learn that there is much more to the story than meets the eye.

This is the origin of Spider-Man Noir and you can see how it keeps the core elements of Spider-Man while making major changes to a more serious tone. We’ll have to see what the live-action film does with the material, but it’s easily one of the most exciting Spider-Man projects on the horizon.

Are you excited for Spider-Man Noir? You can talk to me about all things Marvel and comics on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!