After eight episodes — one for every leg of a spider — Spider-Noir Season 1 is all wrapped up in a web with the season finale, “The Man in the Mask.” And while the Spider-Man adjacent TV series ties up pretty much everything nicely, you might still be looking for an ending explained. Hey, that’s what we’re doing right here! Weird coincidence!
In any case, before we get to the episode recap, let’s talk a bit about how we got here — and spoilers past this point. Picking up five years after the tragic death of Ben Reilly’s (Nicolas Cage) girlfriend Ruby (Amanda Schull), the army veteran turned Privat Investigator has given up his alter ego, The Spider. That is until a variety of circumstances pull him back into the vigilante, web-slinging lifestyle.
First? Someone tried to kill mob boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson) in a fire. They weren’t successful, but it turned out to be caused by the first of many superpowered beings including Flint Marko/Sandman (Jack Huston), Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone (Abraham Popoola), and Dirk Leydon/Megawatt (Andrew Lewis Caldwell). Those three got recruited by Silvermane as his own Sinister Trio, as he worked to figure out who was working against him, and to put the squeeze on the mayor — who had decided to run for reelection without Silvermane’s help.
Stuck in the middle of that is lounge singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), who had a romance with Flint before he started going sandy, then with Ben, then went back to Flint. She’s also behind the plot to kill Silvermane, since he keeps her locked up like his own caged bird.
The other characters you need to know about before we actually get into it are Ben’s faithful assistant, Janet (Karen Rodriguez), and his best friend Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris), a newspaper reporter who has been getting the scoop on the return of The Spider and other superpowered characters, while angling to get his job back at the Daily Bugle.
And probably the most important plot point we’re going to condense as much as possible? Back in the war, Ben and his company discovered a strange lab where people were being merged with animal DNA, to become hybrids. Ben was bitten by a man-spider, gaining the powers of a “spider-man” if you will. Others were rescued, and those are exhibiting powers now. However, everyone else’s powers are unstable, and slowly killing them… Except Ben. So a mad scientist crafted a cure out of Ben’s blood, which he now has the only remaining vial of, since the scientist was killed. He’s separated that into multiple hypodermic needles, one for each of the superpowered guys as well as himself. And now that he’s cured Tombstone, there aren’t enough needles left to go around.
Okay, that’s enough of that. With great recaps, comes great brevity, so let’s into recapping the season finale of Spider-Noir, and even talk a little about what we know about a potential Season 2.
Spider-Noir Episode 8, “The Man in the Mask” – Season Finale Recap:
Things open on a rainy night in the city as Megawatt tells Sandman all about how he looks down on the saps on the street, presaging where we’ll finish the episode. And while Flint tells him that a crash is coming, Megawatt explains that thanks to sucking the power from the city’s light sources, he’s only getting stronger.
Then it’s over to Silvermane’s club, where he’s eating nuts and talking about where his strength comes from: “courage” and “a gambler’s heart.” Cat is frozen in rage, fear, maybe a little bit of both. Undeterred, Silvermane continues, explaining that Cat should never be satisfied, always want more. Perhaps, one might say, Silvermane sets up his own downfall here.
He goes to take a leak, and that gives Cat enough time to make a phone call. Who to? Well, Janet, surprisingly… Who slaps her because Cat betrayed Ben a few episodes back, revealing his secret identity to the doctor who experimented on him. Janet slaps her again, for betraying her own confidence, but Cat thinks she can make it right… She loves Flint, and promises she can make it up to him: she can inject Flint and Dirk with the antidote.
While that’s going on, Dirk is spreading sedition, suggesting that since they’re the ones with the superpowers, perhaps Silvermane shouldn’t be in charge. Oh, and as Janet returns to the office, we see where Dirk and Flint are staked out: across the street. Uhoh!
Janet gets the DL from the newsboy who hangs out in their office on where everyone is at, and then Janet’s man at the precinct, Hank, calls to let her know that everyone is after Ben. She heads off to Robbie’s place, where Ben is nursing a hangover, with Flint and Dirk in hot pursuit. Janet gets Ben caught up, and he thinks Cat’s deal isn’t a bad idea.
You know what is a bad idea? Letting Dirk and Flint in, and ominously, Dirk knows Ben from somewhere. We, the viewers, know that Dirk knows Ben from rescuing them back in the war. Ben knows Dirk knows that, and is doing everything he can to not have his secret identity blown out of the water. They’re going to take him Silvermane, and Ben tries to take his coat, which has the antidotes in the pocket… But Dirk and Flint take him out of the apartment before he can grab it.
What follows is maybe the weirdest extended sequence the show has done, particularly given how much real estate it takes up in the finale. Silvermane brings Ben to the club, and asks Ben to… Call The Spider so Silvermane can hire him and/or get the antidote from him.
Ben, of course, can’t do that because he is The Spider. But instead he talks about how hard it is to understand The Spider, and negotiates his way into a higher rate to call the hero while he sends Cat to pour a drink. And Ben does call, giving Robbie and Janet enough time to get caught up to speed. When Silvermane jumps on the phone, Robbie does his best Nicolas Cage impression, which is pretty hilarious mind you. And the trap is set, as Cat and Ben pour drinks, and he catches her up his plan to bring “The Spider” to them and get the antidote in Fint and Dirk.
While they plan, Silvermane does as well, and Dirk continues to be bothered by remembering Ben, but isn’t quite there yet… Until Ben says he’s going to spend the money Silvermane is about to give him on a trip to France.
“That’s where I know you from,” Dirk says. And once they realize Ben was in the same unit as the rest of them, they very quickly put together the reason The Spider isn’t at the club: he’s sitting right there with them. Ben lies, of course, and pretends they’re all crazy. Silvermane is convinced, though. He tells Ben he’s got a way to figure it out, and that’s shoot Cat in the head. If he’s Ben Reilly, a PI who doesn’t care about anybody? He won’t care. If he’s the heroic The Spider, well, that’s a different story. So is our Black Cat stand-in about to go the way of Gwen Stacy?
Ben, it should be noted, is trying to get his web-shooters working, or perhaps holding them back so he doesn’t reveal himself. But in a last ditch attempt, Cat reveals that Ben won’t save her not because he’s not The Spider, but because she broke his heart… Because she’s in love with Flint. And not only that, she confesses everything, from hiring a fire-starting supervillain to feeding info to eh mayor.
Silvermane is about to kill Cat for being his “Judas” when who comes in but… The Spider. Or rather, obviously (to us) Robbie, dressed in The Spider outfit. Silvermane is thrilled, and while he comes over to offer to hire The Spider, Cat grabs his gun. Ben suggests that “The Spider” not jump into conflict immediately, which is when it turns out Silvermane’s goons grabbed Janet, who has the antidote.
Things start to fall apart quickly as Megawatt grabs the antidote and gives it to Robbie — who has no superpowers, of course — as then shocks him. And Megawatt uses this opportunity to stand up to Silvermane, positing that the boss wants the antidote to have power over them. Megawatt then tries to turn Flint, explaining that Silvermane is Flint’s “puppet master… He’s just an old man in a suit fighting to stay relevant.
…Which is when Dirk unmasks Robbie, only for Ben to shoot his webs and start swinging around the club, revealing that he is The Spider. A big fight breaks out, and when Sandman and Megawatt regroup, Ben jumps on the bar in The Spider outfit and the final battle begins.
Spider-Noir Ending Explained:
While The Spider fights Sandman and Megawatt — and subsequently gets thrown out of the club and onto the street — Silvermane takes the opportunity to duck out the back and escape. Hot on his tail? Cat, who carefully follows him with her gun.
Outside, Megawatt does a shout-out to Electro in Amazing Spider-Man 2 and sings the “itsy-bitsy spider” song. The Spider, meanwhile, rides a car towards the baddies, planning on stabbing them with the cure, but Sandman knocks him down and they all fight some more — slamming into a big, neon sign, which washes The Spider out; or it does until he webs up two cars and smushes Sandman into a big pile of sand. And at the same time, Megawatt is all out of juice. The Spider has saved the day… Right?
Cat tracks Silvermane to a hall of mirrors in the basement (yeah, I don’t know either), which provides a stylish sequence with the two reflected and split in the broken mirrors. Silvermane insists that Cat loved been kept by him, but she disagrees. And with all the mirrors destroyed, she faces him down. “My one regret?” Cat says, “I only get to kill you once.” And with that, she kills Silvermane. “I’m happy it’s you,” Silvermane says, and keels over, dead.
Back on the street, Sandman reforms (meaning his body, not turns over a new leaf), while Megawatt sucks off some power from the street. The Spider tries to reason with him, but he shocks the hero; and then Sandman attacks, now fully sand. They both knock down The Spider, and rip his mask in the classic Spidey “half-ripped” thing you see in nearly every issue of the comic.
With The Spider seemingly down for the count, Megawatt monologues about finally being center stage on Broadway (even if he is on the street) while the people boo him. He doesn’t care, though, he goes to kill The Spider, when Cat enters and threatens to shoot Megawatt; only she’s out of bullets. Megawatt shocks Cat, which makes Sandman turn against him as the electric bad guy riles up the crowd some more.
Using his electric powers, Megawatt starts turning Sandman into glass, which is when The Spider steps up and webs Megawatt on his back. This time, the pulsing electricity doesn’t stop The Spider, and he does his iconic finishing move: throwing Megawatt into an oncoming train, killing him instantly. Huh!
So yeah, The Spider murdered a man, but the crowd loves it and cheers. Going over to Cat and Flint, Ben gives them the final remaining cure. “Why?” Cat asks. “You know why,” Ben answers, and walks away through the crowd.
Later, Flint — now fully human — and cat are at a crypt, attending the funeral of Silvermane. They walk over to Ben, and Cat tells him that in another life she would have run away with him. “It’s one thing to use a guy. It’s another to keep him on the hook after you’ve set sail for shore,” Ben says. Cat angrily storms away, leaving Ben behind.
Ben does the sad Spider-Man walk out of the crypt, and we check in with everyone else. Mayor Morris has won his election, we discover, followed quickly by the news that Robbie is now running the newspaper and Janet has a new office… Or rather, as we discover, she’s now co-detective with Ben.
And as for him? Does he have a new lease on life? “I’ll just settle for a really good hot dog,” Ben says. They get a call, Ben tells Janet to slot them in at two so it “makes us seem busy,” and anyway, he really wants that hot dog. As “You Know I’m No Good” by Amy Winehouse kicks in on the soundtrack, we discover that Robbie is not running the Daily Bugle, but another paper. And the firm is now called “Reilly & Ruiz Private Investigators.”
And that’s it! So other than The Spider, as far as we know there are no more super-powered characters in New York City, and Silvermane is gone. But hey, that doesn’t mean there isn’t crime, investigations, and most importantly: hot dogs.
Does Spider-Noir Have A Post-Credits Scene?
Nope! Just the credits, which play the rest of the Amy Winehouse song, all the way to the end. No end credits scene, no surprise connection to the Spider-Verse movies, and no wrap up of who asked Ben which universe this is, aka what he teased in his first line in the season. That’s it! Mystery solved!
Will There Be A Spider-Noir Season 2?
As of this writing, Spider-Noir has neither been renewed nor canceled by Prime Video. Producer Chris Miller told The Hollywood Reporter that “would be happy to do more,” and Lord added, “We are television producers. We’re not gonna say no.”
As for showrunner Oren Uziel, “One of the magical things about any private detective story is, if you want another story, all it takes is another client to knock on that door, and then comes a new set of cases, a new set of problems and a new adventure to go one. So [it’s] conceived to be as many seasons as we want to go.”
So yes, Ben could come back for a new case for Season 2; and there are plenty more members of his army squad that could have powers, if they want to go that route.
One trick to this is that it was a pretty long road to getting to this show, with the idea of new Spider-Man TV shows floated in 2020, and writing starting on Spider-Noir back in 2023. Not the longest development process in Hollywood, but not the shortest, either. As for production, filming lasted from August 2024 through March of 2025, slightly elongated by the LA fires. Given that, and the show not hitting until May 2026, if Amazon did pick Spider-Noir up for a second season likely the earliest it would stream is two years from now, in 2028. So it’s possible, but they’d have to work out everything from budget to Nicolas Cage’s schedule.
Long story short: they could definitely do a Season 2, and I’d even put it on the side of positive that they will pick it up. But we won’t know for a little while, likely depending on it being a hit — and a big one at that.
Listen to MarvelVision:
Share this:
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.