The 78th Primetime Emmy nominations are in. Spider-Noir received 11 of them — Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Production Design, Outstanding Sound Mixing, Outstanding Music Composition, Outstanding Visual Effects, and six more. The Television Academy looked at this show and said: technically, this is as good as television gets.
Nicolas Cage was not nominated.
That gap — eleven craft nominations and zero acting recognition for the performance that holds all of it together — tells you almost everything you need to know about how the Emmy system processes something it doesn't quite have a category for. It also tells you why Spider-Noir is the most interesting Marvel property of 2026.
What the Show Actually Is
Set in depression-era 1930s New York City, Spider-Noir follows Ben Reilly, an aging private investigator who once operated as a vigilante called The Spider. Five years ago he walked away from that life after his fiancée was killed. A case involving organized crime and metahuman criminals pulls him back in.
That is the noir template. What the show does with it is something else. Creator Oren Uziel and co-showrunner Steve Lightfoot — with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal as executive producers — built a series that takes the genre completely seriously. Hard-boiled dialogue, moral ambiguity, a villain in Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson) who operates in the same register of tragic menace as any great crime drama antagonist. Lamorne Morris plays Robbie Robertson, a freelance journalist trying to claw his way back to the Daily Bugle. The show streams in two versions: full color and authentic black and white, and the black and white version in particular looks like nothing else on television this year.
It is not a campy superhero show with a period costume. It is a noir series that happens to have a man in a spider suit in it.
The 92% That Marvel Never Gets
Spider-Noir holds a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes — higher than every current Disney+ Marvel series and among the highest scores a live-action Marvel production has ever received.
| Series | Platform | Critics (RT) | Audience (RT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Noir | Amazon/MGM+ | 92% | 90% |
| Andor | Disney+ | 96% | — |
| Daredevil: Born Again | Disney+ | 86% | — |
| Agatha All Along | Disney+ | 84% | — |
Andor, which critics frequently cite as the ceiling of prestige superhero television, holds 96% — but that is Lucasfilm, not Marvel. Everything else in the Disney-Marvel ecosystem sits below Spider-Noir.
Critics praised the dual presentation format, the tonal commitment, and above all Nicolas Cage's performance, which the RT consensus describes as "gloriously pulpy" and "intensely committed." The phrase that kept appearing across reviews was some variant of Cage at his best — which, given Cage's filmography, is a genuinely high bar.
The 90% audience score confirms that this was not a critics-only phenomenon. Viewers came for Cage and stayed for a show that treated them like adults.
11 Nominations, Zero for Cage
The Emmy nominations break down as follows:
- Outstanding Cinematography For A Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Period Or Fantasy Program (One Hour Or More)
- Outstanding Title Design
- Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Single Episode
- Outstanding Stunt Performance
- Outstanding Stunt Coordination For Comedy Programming
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup
- Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics
Every single nomination is for craft. Not one is for acting, writing, or the series itself.
Part of the explanation is categorical. Spider-Noir was submitted by Amazon in the Comedy categories for Emmy consideration — a decision that was almost certainly strategic (the Comedy field is typically less competitive for a show of this type) but that created an immediate problem for acting recognition. Cage was placed in competition against traditional comedy leads. Academy voters faced the task of classifying a brooding, melancholic 1930s private detective within a Comedy field dominated by sitcoms. He could not be nominated for Lead Actor in a Drama Series because the show did not compete there.
Even accounting for that, the omission lands strangely. A 92% show with what critics widely described as a career-highlight performance, and the Television Academy found nothing to recognize in the acting or writing? The craft nominations feel like an institution acknowledging it cannot ignore the show entirely while also not quite knowing what to do with it.
Spider-Man's Year, Both Versions
Spider-Noir premiered on Amazon Prime Video on May 27, 2026 — two months before Spider-Man: Brand New Day hit theaters. The two properties share no continuity. Spider-Noir is set in a standalone 1930s alternate universe within Sony's Spider-Man catalogue; Brand New Day is the fourth installment of Tom Holland's MCU run. They are not the same character — Ben Reilly in Spider-Noir, Peter Parker in the films — and the two universes do not intersect.
What they share is a moment. In 2026, two Spider-Man properties arrived within two months of each other and both landed as critical and commercial successes. Brand New Day at 90% on RT and $1 billion at the box office. Spider-Noir at 92% and the most Emmy nominations of any Marvel project. The character, in its two most divergent interpretations — 1930s noir detective and MCU high schooler turned street-level hero — both worked simultaneously.
That does not happen by accident, and it has not happened before.
Season 2 and What Comes Next
Amazon renewed Spider-Noir for Season 2 on June 11, 2026. No premiere date has been confirmed. Showrunner Oren Uziel has mentioned a World War II setting as a possible direction — which would push Ben Reilly's timeline forward a decade and into an entirely different genre register. Phil Lord has said publicly they "would be happy to do more."
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where most of Spider-Noir's 11 nominations will be decided, air on September 5–6. The main Primetime Emmy ceremony is September 14. If the show sweeps its craft categories, it will be the most Emmy-decorated Marvel series ever produced outside of Disney+.
Whether Nicolas Cage gets a nomination for that season is a different question. One the Television Academy will have to answer with cleaner category logic than it applied this time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Spider-Noir connected to the MCU or Spider-Verse films? No. Spider-Noir is a standalone Sony production set in a 1930s alternate universe. It is not canon to the MCU (where Tom Holland plays Peter Parker) or the animated Spider-Verse films. The lead character is Ben Reilly, not Peter Parker — a deliberate creative departure from both continuities.
Who created Spider-Noir? The series was created by Oren Uziel, with Steve Lightfoot as co-showrunner. Executive producers include Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal — the same producer team behind the Spider-Verse animated films.
What are Spider-Noir's Rotten Tomatoes scores? 92% from critics (Tomatometer) and 90% from audiences (Popcornmeter) — higher than every current Disney+ Marvel series.
Why was Spider-Noir submitted in Comedy Emmy categories? Amazon submitted the show in the Comedy track for Emmy eligibility, a strategic decision that affects which acting and writing categories the show could compete in. Most of its 11 nominations are in craft categories, some of which fall under Comedy subcategories as a result.
When is Season 2? Season 2 was confirmed on June 11, 2026. No premiere date has been announced. A World War II setting has been mentioned as a possible direction.
When are the Emmy Awards? The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where most of Spider-Noir's nominations will be decided, air September 5–6, 2026. The main Primetime Emmy ceremony airs September 14, 2026.