Nic Cage is no stranger to the Spider-Man universe, especially now that Spider-Noir is taking the world by storm. Alongside Li Jun Li, Lamorne Morris, and Brendon Gleeson, Cage is bringing Ben Reilly to life, telling the story of a down-and-out private detective in 1930s New York who, as the city’s one and only superhero, is forced to grapple with his past after tragedy shakes him to his core. But this isn’t the first time that the actor has danced with the idea of starring in a Spider-Man story.
It turns out that back when Cage met director Sam Raimi, the idea was floated that he could be tapped to play the Green Goblin. Ultimately, the role went to Willem Dafoe, but not before Cage gave Raimi some interesting advice about how Tobey Maguire’s performance as Spider-Man could be even better. That advice? Have Maguire crawl around like a spider, obviously. Speaking with Empire Magazine, he said, “I said, ‘Whoever you get to play Spider-Man, it would be great if he has a private moment in his apartment where he’s crawling around and acting like a spider,’ and they didn’t do that.” The inspiration for the comment came from Cage’s love of Jeff Goldblum’s performance in The Fly, and it ended up being advice he would take as he stepped into Ben Reilly’s shoes in Spider-Noir.
The actor went on to elaborate that it was that suggestion that would later play into the way he portrayed Ben Reilly. “And then that led to this magical idea that Oren [Uziel] and I developed, that the arachnid DNA is making him think different, it’s making him move different, he’s got to reprogram his body to be more human again… Maybe he goes to the cinema, and he starts studying movie stars to get an idea of how he can be more human… Ben’s doing that to just be more believable as a human being again, and to be able to keep his job and be a private eye, and that wasn’t in the script.” It really was a fantastic touch, lending something otherworldly to the series that helped elevate its noir vibes. And it genuinely does make sense that something like the spider bite that gives its victims powers would have other effects on their psyches and systems.
A scene where this is particularly effective is in the bar with nightclub singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), where Ben’s tics are on full display. There’s something inherently off-putting about his behavior, and it fully sells the choice to include those strange, new, spider-like tweaks to his personality. And it’s also something that wouldn’t be nearly as poignant in a movie, where you aren’t able to sink as deeply into the development of the behavior as you are with the additional time that a series allows. Overall, climbing around like a spider really was the answer—just not for Maguire.
Would you have liked to see Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker crawling around his room like a spider? Do you think that Ben’s spider-like ticks in Spider-Noir add to the vibes? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see how your opinion stacks up with other fans.
