Listen up biscuit boxers! Let's take a look at the most hard boiled Spidey variant; Spider-Man: Noir. While he has had definately seen a surge in popularity thanks Nic Cage going "full Cage" on the character in the recent Spider-Verse films, most gamers will probably know him from the fan favorite game Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions.
In 2006 French Pulp Magazine writer Fabrice Sapolsky came to Marvel Writer David Hine with an to make pulp-inspired versions of Marvel characters. This lead to 2009's Marvel Noir line. While many characters were used, Spider-Man remains the most popular. He debuted in Spider-Man Noir #1 in Feburary 2009. The black clad spidey gained mainstream popularity when Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions was released in 2010.
Iconic Spider-Man voice actor Christstopher Daniel Barnes opened up about playing the character and Galaxy Con San Jose. You will a preview of the video interview below.
Spider-Man Noir takes place on Earth 90214, (also known as Earth-Noir) a 1930 inspired variant of earth, with an heavy influence on the Great Depression. The city is controlled by crime boss Norman Osborn, known as the Goblin.
Noir's Peter Parker works with Ben Urich at the Daily Bugle. Ben Urich is a classic Marvel universe character one of the few with ties to both Spider-Man and Daredevil lore. His first appearance was in Daredevil #153 from 1978.
Urich was insturmental in not only talking down Kingpin, but was also directly responsible for proving the secret identity of the Green Goblin. In the netflix Daredevil he is potrayed by Vondie Curtis-Hall, who helping Karen expose the corruptiuon at Unied Alied, a shell company beloning to Wilson Fisk. In this universe Ben Parker was a former World War I pilot who is working with Urich to expose Osborne.
After he is murdered by The Goblin's Enforcers, Peter is more determined than ever to take down Norman Osborne. The Enforcers are tied to the classic era of the early days of Spider-man's career, a trio of gangsters for hire sometimes work for the Kingpin's under bosses, such as Hammerhead. Members include judo-expert Daniel "Fancy Dan" Brito, the lasso weilding Montana, and strongman Ox. First appearing all the way back in Amazing Spider-Man #10 they also have appeared in other mediums as well including the Spectcular Spider-Man Animated series.
His investigation leads him to a dock where he finds a shipment of stolen artifacts. Among them, a statue belonging to an ancient Spider-God. His is bitten by a spider inside the statue giving him Spider-Like powers.
Spider-Man Noir retains the classic spider sense and strentgh. He doesnt typically web swing, instead relying on vertcality and parkour to get around. While largly relying on fistcuffs, he also doesnt shy away from pulling a hot iron when the situation calls for it. such as killing the Vulture at gunpoint while the winged villian was attacking Aunt May. Spider-Man Noir uses organic webbing, unlike Peter's mechanical webshooters. He usually subdues his foes in a large net.
Spider-Man Noir uses themes of light and darkness of tell its tale, touching on organized crime, government corruption and historical racism. Noir is dressed in a black motor cycle suit and googles, using the cover of shadows as much as possible. He is also not shy about resorting to firearms, such as when he shot an attacking Vulutre from killing is Aunt May.
Leaning into the element of darkness, the Noir levels in Shattered Dimensions rely very heavily on stealth, with Spider-Man shifting from light and dark sources. This includes a very well designed boss fight against Hammerhead, which invovles wallcrawler shifting spit lights to create shadows against the hard headed gangster. The stealth takedowns of the modern games owe all of their DNA to Shattered Dimensions.
Going forward, Barnes would love to return to play Spider-Man again, a real possiblity considering the cameo in the X-Men 97 finale.
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