Spider-Man‘s newest hero name change makes a lot more sense than it might on initial viewing given the character’s place in the wider Marvel movie world. Spider-Man’s web-swinging adventures have long been a staple of the superhero film sphere, both because audiences consistently adore the hero, and because many aspects of Spider-Man’s lore adapt stunningly well on-screen.
This has more recently been proven true for the multiversal aspects of this mythos, as Spider-Man movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Spider-Verse movies have seen great success with delving into the idea of there being many multiversal variants of the hero. One of the latest explorations of this territory has even made a major tweak to Spider-Man’s name – but this is a move that has some logical explanations when put in full content.
Spider-Noir Going By “The Spider” Helps Keep The Live-Action Variant Different To The Spider-Verse Rendition
In an interview with Esquire regarding the Spider-Noir show, showrunner Oren Uziel and producers Chris Lord and Phil Miller discussed the various changes the series would make to conventional Spider-Man lore, explaining that this rendition of the hero would be Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, and would go by The Spider instead of the traditional Spider-Man name.
While these decisions have garnered some surprise, both make a form of sense, given the project clearly intends to try and move away from the conventional setup of many other Spider-Man releases, both in terms of the comics and in terms of the movies and shows that draw from them.
With a recent and very popular version of Spider-Man Noir appearing in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse who is also set to appear again in Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse – and who is played by Nicolas Cage, the actor who is also playing the lead role of Spider-Noir – it’s easy to see how these changes could be made to underline the differences between the live-action and animated versions of the character.
Though Ben Reilly is conventionally the Scarlet Spider in the comics, changing the civilian identity of The Spider for Spider-Noir does make a similar kind of sense in this vein, as this further highlights just how different this version of Spider-Man Noir is. While it has been teased the change to Spider-Man Noir’s civilian name will also have an in-universe explanation behind it, this call ultimately encourages audiences to think of the series as something more than just an alternate universe take on Spider-Man’s story.
Why The Live-Action Noir Version Of Spider-Man Has To Be Different To The Animated Spider-Verse Version
As it stands, it seems any suggestion that the Spider-Noir and Spider-Verse movie versions of this hero were one and the same could have created some complications for the wider franchise.
Spider-Man Noir’s story is dark in a way that is tonally at odds with much of the Spider-Verse film series – most famously since its story includes Uncle Ben being eaten by the Vulture, in a scene that simply would not translate well into the multiverse of the generally child-friendly animated series.
Given the Spider-Noir show seems to be leaning into this darker aspect of its own universe, the decision being made to emphasize that this rendition of Spider-Man is a different figure does stand to reason, especially since it could otherwise be jarring for audiences to go from the grittiness of Spider-Noir right back to the more generally more light-hearted tone of the Spider-Verse films with Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse‘s impending release.
