Nicolas Cage Is Right, Spider-Noir Getting Canceled Is A Good Thing

Published Nov 15, 2026, 12:15 PM EST

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

So often in the streaming age, a streamer will release a promising new show, it’ll grow a fervent fan following who can’t wait to see where the story goes next, and then they’ll cancel it after one season. Lucasfilm ended The Acolyte on an unresolved cliffhanger. Disney renewed Wonder Man for a second season and then unrenewed it shortly thereafter. Prime Video canceled both the cyberpunk gem The Peripheral and the time-traveling coming-of-age dramedy Paper Girls after one season each.

Earlier this year, Prime added yet another one-season wonder to its library. Between Reacher’s darker, stranger spinoff Neagley and Mike Flanagan’s boldly unfaithful adaptation of Carrie, Amazon has been killing it with its cash-grabby I.P.-based original programming this year. But one of its best shows of 2026, despite being well-received by fans and critics alike, has been canned after just one season.

When Spider-Noir was first announced, it seemed gimmicky and one-note. Nicolas Cage’s 1930s P.I.-style Spider-Man provided some fun comic relief in the Spider-Verse films, but it remained to be seen whether he could carry an entire TV series on his own.

Of course, when Spider-Noir dropped its entire first season in May, those doubts were quickly squashed. Spider-Noir turned out to be one of the most unique and inventive comic book adaptations to come along in a while. It nails the genre blend of superhero action and old-school detective noir, and Cage used the extra screen time of eight episodes to really dig deep into Ben Reilly’s jaded psyche and deliver one of the most riveting and complex performances of his career.

Spider-Noir was a breath of fresh air, so it was devastating when Prime mercilessly canceled the show after one season. But Cage himself has a refreshing perspective on the cancelation that actually spins it as a positive.

Spider-Noir Season 2 Would've Been Great, But Season 1 Already Had A Perfect Ending

Via MovieStillsDB

When Prime Video canceled Spider-Noir, Deadline reached out to Cage for a statement, and he had a thoughtful response to the show’s early demise. Rather than lamenting what could’ve been in season 2 and beyond, Cage remains proud and grateful of what he and the team accomplished in season 1. Cage said, “For me, one season is perfect.” He said everything he wanted to say with the character in that first season, and now that the series is over as a one-and-done, there’s no pressure to top what they did in season 2.

For Cage, it was a relief when Spider-Noir was canceled, because now it can exist as one perfect season instead of getting run into the ground with diminishing returns. It’s not impossible for a series to maintain the quality of its first season for every subsequent season right up to its last — Breaking Bad, The Wire, and Succession all just got better and better throughout their respective runs — but, more often than not, a stellar debut season is ruined by disappointing second, third, and fourth seasons.

Yellowjackets seasons 2 and 3 have both failed to live up to the intriguing mysteries of season 1. The Last of Us’ first season was a pitch-perfect adaptation of the first game, but the second season completely bungled its adaptation of the second game. Your Friends and Neighbors’ second season abandoned the ironic satire of a rich guy robbing his rich friends to stay rich, and instead just became another Succession-lite corporate drama.

It would’ve been great to see a second season of Spider-Noir, with more noirish reimaginings of classic Spidey villains and another wonderfully wacky turn by Cage. But we don’t need a second season, because the first season already gave this story a perfect ending: Ben got his groove back, resumed his vigilante career as The Spider, and embraced all the friends and loved ones around him as his found family.

Source: Deadline

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