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Unlike most superhero stories, Prime Video\u2019s Spider-Noir<\/a><\/em> doesn\u2019t begin to weave its tale with a traditional origin story. Instead, audiences are dropped smack dab into the middle of Ben Reilly\u2019s (Nicolas Cage<\/a>) midlife crisis, long after the thrill of masks and heroics has faded. Haunted by his failure to save his main squeeze Ruby, Ben is attempting to redefine himself.<\/p>\n TV Insider spoke to showrunner Oren Uziel about the \u201cresetting\u201d and why starting with a worn-down, slightly-busted Ben Reilly was the right way to unlock the character.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first came on, the first thing I asked is if I could age him up,\u201d said Uziel. \u201cBecause it\u2019s just \u2026 it\u2019s a story that I [would] be more comfortable telling, that I\u2019m more familiar with. I\u2019m not a high school kid anymore,\u201d said Uziel. \u201cI really thought, let\u2019s see what happens to this character if we jump forward in time and see just what he\u2019s been through and how it\u2019s changed him, and how living a long life as The Spider might affect that character.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then that also allowed us to cast Nic Cage,\u201d explained Uziel. \u201cAnd then, together with Nic, I think we just created something that I think no one\u2019s ever seen before, and that felt really satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n And with Cage\u2019s arrival, the series inherited a wealth of cinematic weight, as the actor brought a level of gravitas few performers could match. According to Uziel, Cage\u2019s presence and instincts helped shape some of the show\u2019s boldest creative decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cOne-thousand percent, and it\u2019s something I wouldn\u2019t have done myself without him,\u201d said Uziel. \u201cI mean, we started talking, and he was really pressing to figure out what it felt like, and what really happened to him when he became a spider. And we really pushed and pushed and got to a place where this guy is really more spider than man at this point. And he\u2019s almost cosplaying as a human. It\u2019s hard work for him to walk around in this human form. I think that\u2019s just such a wholly Nick Cage idea, and something that he knows he can do with his physicality. He\u2019s really an incredible actor. I\u2019m not breaking news there, but it was just amazing to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n That collaborative push toward making Ben Reilly feel genuinely unsettling ultimately shaped some of the show\u2019s most memorable moments, including one scene Uziel says perfectly captures Cage\u2019s intensity of the character.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a scene that we talked about that I know we both love, where at some point he\u2019s talking to someone in the show. He\u2019s talking about how the spider is in him at all times, and he manages to suppress that feeling, and then he sort of looks and he says, \u2018Most of the time,\u2019 and he says it in a very menacing way,\u201d recalled Uziel. \u201cAnd he really was so happy that I was cool with him doing that. And I remember when he did that take. And then he came over, we sat at the monitor together, and he was like, \u2018We\u2019re making something really cool, Oren.\u2019 It was really, really fun and meaningful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n