The Ending of Spider-Noir Season 1, Explained
After an agonising wait, Spider-Noir was finally released in the UK and every episode was made available in one fell swoop.
The stylish series — which gives you the option of viewing in black and white or colour — stars Nicolas Cage as the titular hero. Ben Reilly (Cage) is a jaded, quick-witted private investigator with a secret: he’s actually got spider-like powers and previously helped clean up criminality as ‘The Spider.’ However, after the tragic death of his girlfriend, he hung up his goggles, and New York was left under the thumb of hardened criminal Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson).
As Silvermane continues his reign of terror, people with strange powers begin to stir up trouble around the city, leading to Reilly bringing his sleuthy superhero out of retirement as he tries to solve his biggest mystery yet. So, if you’re ready to get tangled in this web of conspiracy, keep reading — but, if you’re wary of Spider-Noir spoilers, consider this to be your final warning.
What’s The Set-Up Before The Final Battle?
It’s established in the series that villains like Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone (Abraham Popoola), Flint Marko/Sandman (Jack Hutson), and Dirk Leyden/Megawatt (Andrew Lewis Caldwell) got their superpowers after being experimented on during their time as prisoners of war. Reilly got his powers when one of these subjects, whose genetics were spliced with a spider, bit him. The three villains are slowly dying as a result of this experimentation, while Reilly has the powers without the health issues.
After love interest Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li) betrays Reilly, revealing to Dr Faber (Amy Aquino) that he’s The Spider, Faber and her son kidnap him and are able to harvest a ‘cure’ from Reilly that will reverse both the superhuman abilities and impending death. When Reilly escapes from Faber — who dies along with her son after Silvermane and his men go after the lab — he takes the cure. He plans to use it not only on Sandman, Megawatt, and Tombstone, but also on himself in order to get rid of his powers.
In the series’ penultimate episode, Tombstone ends up being cured after Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris) injects the cure into his eye during a violent confrontation with The Spider. He decides to leave town with his mother to start a new life, and this leaves Reilly with two more men left to cure: Sandman, and Megawatt. Trouble is they’re also currently working as Silvermane’s goons.
Spider-Noir Season 1 Ending Explained
Reilly ends up face-to-face with Silvermane, the Sandman, and Megawatt after Silvermane requests his presence. The one fly in the ointment is that he hasn’t got the antidote with him.
Silvermane demands he speak to The Spider, and Robertson does a pretty good imitation on the phone. However, Megawatt then recognises Reilly from their time in the war together, and he soon deduces that he must be The Spider. For a short while, Reilly is able to evade suspicion after claiming The Spider saved his life, as Robertson arrives in full The Spider getup. Silvermane’s cronies also bring Janet (Karen Rodriguez) in, who has the antidote with her.
‘The Spider’ is injected with the antidote and unmasked as Robertson. Up until that point, Reilly has been unable to use his powers following his fight with Tombstone. However, he manages to find the strength to shoot his webs and get the antidote back. This reveals his true identity and sparks a fight that soon spreads to the New York streets.
Reilly attempts to cure Megawatt, but he ends up breaking the syringe. As this happens, Cat has a final confrontation with Silvermane, shooting him in a hall of mirrors and killing him. Megawatt then goes into full-on beast mode. He brutally injures and tries to kill Reilly, and when Cat intervenes, he electrocutes her. This then turns Sandman against him, and they have a brawl. However, by using his electrical powers to make Sandman crystallise, he severely weakens him. Just when all seems lost, Reilly regains consciousness and uses his webs to throw Megawatt in front of an incoming train.
He then gracefully gives the two star-crossed lovers (Cat and Sandman) a second chance at life by giving Cat the final dose of the antidote to administer to Sandman. In a flash-forward to Silvermane’s funeral, Sandman is fully cured and is Flint Marko once more.
After a tense conversation with Cat, Reilly leaves, and the next scene shows citizens celebrating the mayor’s re-election. Not everything has stayed the same, though. Robertson now runs a newspaper called the New York Herald, and Janet has been promoted to private investigator as part of the now-renamed ‘Reilly and Ruiz Investigations.’
And as for Reilly, he just wants a really good hot dog. Me too, Ben. Me too.
Spider-Noir is now playing on Amazon Prime Video, with all eight episodes available now.
