David Hine, the co-creator of the original Spider-Noir character from the comics, has decidedly mixed feelings about the recently released Prime Video series based on the comic.
Speaking with Radio Times, Hine says he’s impressed by the “cohesive world” they built and the series is “actually more ‘noir’ than our comic”. He goes on to praise the black-and-white version and praise those on screen for “clearly enjoying their work and totally into it”.
He adds that he can “enjoy it for what it is” but it “can’t take away from the serious, authentic nature of our comic”. He says “as a direct adaptation of the comic” he’s “disappointed” and explains his biggest gripe is that the sharp political tone of the comic has been lost:
“Our version was explicitly political. We named names…Everything referenced was historical reality, except for the obvious elements of pulp weirdness. Our Peter Parker was a radical communist along with Aunt May and Uncle Ben. The politics of the show are soft left. Aunt May would have been scathing. I’d have been overjoyed if they took a more courageous political stance.”
He then goes on to praise the various actors and singled out Nic Cage, saying not since the original comic “has anyone made the movements so spidery”.
The full series, created by Oren Uziel, premiered nearly two weeks ago to fairly good reviews and is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
