In an interview with Radio Times, Spider-Man Noir comic creator David Hine shared his thoughts on the recently released Prime Video adaptation of the character. Hine said he was “impressed by the cohesive world they’ve built” in the show, and even noted that it is more “‘noir’ than our comic.” He admits that he’ll have to “enjoy it for what it is,” but loves that it will ultimately bring more attention to the character and the comics.
However, compared to those comics, Hine says that there’s one aspect of the show he’s particularly disappointed in: its lack of a clear political voice.
“Our version was explicitly political. We named names,” Hine said. “We referenced the Friends of New Germany and the rise of actual Nazism in the US. Everything referenced was historical reality, except for the obvious elements of pulp weirdness.”
For those who are unfamiliar, the Spider-Man Noir comics were incredibly politically motivated. Uncle Ben was a disillusioned former WWI soldier and political activist who told Peter “If those in power can’t be trusted, it’s the responsibility of the people to remove them.” Aunt May and Peter do indeed encourage the people to unite to rise up against the industrialist Norman Osburne, and, despite taking place in an alternate universe version of 1930s United States, the comic series deals with versions of many of the social and political issues that defined the working class during that time. When it comes to describing that version of the character, Hine doesn’t mince words.
“Our Peter Parker was a radical communist along with Aunt May and Uncle Ben,” Hine says. “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.”
One distinction there that is very important to note is that the Spider-Man in the Prime Video Spider-Noir show is not Peter Parker but Ben Reilly. It exists in a different universe and, as Hine says, the show is not a direct adaptation of the original story of the same name, nor is it even a continuation of the version of the character seen in the Spider-Verse films.
Politically, the show does tackle some of the issues seen in the comics (such as race relations at the time), though it certainly doesn’t dive into as many of them nor does it address them with anything close to the same fervor and intent. Will we ever get a version of the character that’s basically Warren Beatty’s Reds but with Spider-Man? Probably not. He’s more of a Dick Tracy guy.
