Louisville native discusses work on ‘Spider-Noir’, starring Nicolas Cage

Actor Nicolas Cage is starring in a TV show for the first time, and a cinema veteran from Louisville is one of the writers behind it. Bruce Marshall Romans is a Spalding University professor, Louisville native and one of the writers and co-producers of “Spider-Noir,” a drama series about a 1930s Spider-Man — played by Cage — who also fights crime as a New York private investigator. The series also features Lamorne Morris from the shows “New Girl” and “Fargo,” and Li Jun Li of Oscar-winning film “Sinners.” “Spider-Noir” is out now on Prime Video, and LPM’s Giselle Rhoden spoke with Marshall Romans about it. This interview was edited for clarity and length. Giselle Rhoden: How did you land the role as a co-producer and writer for this series? Bruce Marshall Romans: A guy that I'd worked with a couple times, he's actually become a friend of mine. He's a showrunner named Steve Lightfoot. He created “The Punisher” a while back. I was working on a Kevin Bacon show called “The Bondsman.” And…he said, "How's it going on ‘The Bondsman?’” And I said, "Well, that ended. I'm not working on it now.” He goes, "What are you working on?” I said, "I'm in between jobs right now,” and he said, "Well, do you want to come in on ‘Spider-Man Noir?’” And I said, "Yeah, sure.” I happen to be a big fan of the noir, those classic films. And he said, "I can't hire you,” because he didn't create it. He was sort of asked by Sony to co-run it with Oren [Uziel], who created the show, and Oren has never worked in television. And when I met him, he said, “This is not a Spider-Man show that's a noir. This is a noir that just so happens to have a Spider-Man in it.” And that Spider-Man that we see, we've never seen before, it's not Peter Parker, it's a completely different alternate universe version. GR: What is noir? BMR: Noir is a genre in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. If you think about almost any Humphrey Bogart movie where he's a detective, that's the noir. And it has a lot to do with style and language. It's basically a crime genre, usually set in a city, like in LA or in New York. We're watching through the crime that they're solving, so it becomes a little bit like an echo chamber, where, as we watch them investigate, it reveals their character without them saying who they are. And there's a dark element to it, obviously — that's why it's called a noir. The style, the cinematography is a very certain style that was big at the time, and we're mirroring that in the black and white. GR: When you watch “Spider Noir” on Prime Video, you have the option to watch it in authentic black and white, or to watch it fully in color. Did that affect how you and the other writers decided to tell the story? BMR: It didn't. From the first time I met with [Uziel], the creator, he was like, "This is going to be shot in black and white. This is a noir, and we're swinging for the fences. No compromise here. It's either going to be either people are going to love it or hate it.” But I personally feel like the best creative things all come from people that do swing for the fences and fully commit, and to their credit, Amazon was on board with that. When you're shooting noir-style, it's definitely a stylized version of cinematography. It's not your regular wide shot and then over the shoulders, [that’s] pretty standard television. This is shot literally like a film, so that's an experience I feel like in the black and white, and that's why I was hesitant about the color. But when I watched it in color, the color is equally stylized. That also elevates the narrative. It's not your traditional color, they're calling it “true hue,” but there's an element to it that is stylized. And also I feel like in its own way elevates the narrative. GR: Was it challenging to write an episode and co-produce this project about a character with a somewhat developed storyline? BMR: That can be a double-edged sword. It can actually help you because there's a certain amount of material already there — the character, his world, etc. — that you don't have to recreate. Then also there's a lot that's not there because you're now taking a character that's not that well-known, a lot of Spider-Man fans know him. So we had a lot to work with. And because he's only established to a certain point, there's a limited amount known about him in his canon. We were also given a lot of room, I think, to develop the character. Like in the comic, his name is Peter Parker, and we named him Ben Reilly. It gave us an opportunity to go into unforged territory, which is always exciting as a writer. I really love the fact that it was one, in noir. Two, to me, it's actually about something, there's a larger theme than Spider-Man or a noir at work here. So there's lots of things going on, and I really sparked to that. Also, oddly enough, I have never read a comic book, and I got hired to do “The Punisher,” which is a big comic character, and I got hired to do this, which is also a big comic character. GR: What have you learned from your experience in cinema that informed your work in “Spider Noir?” BMR: This is going to sort of sound like a cop-out answer, but it does translate to this: It's the classic blue-collar work ethic. Show up on time, show up early, be ready if something needs to be done. Raise your hand. “I'll do those notes, I'll write that outline. What do you need? I'll do that. You want me to stay and rewrite that scene?” Stay late. Put away the pencils and the pens at the end of the day. Be ready, be willing to do anything, and be respectful and show up, and have a positive attitude. So those are a few things that I've learned. And, over the years, keep writing, because the more you write, the better you get. So, those things I feel like have served me well.