Throughout the years, Marvel has released many TV shows to varying degrees of success. Countless animated projects, live-action series, and even special presentations have all taken over the spotlight, yet only a select few have managed to win over the hearts of fans and critics alike. Even among the standouts, only a few have made history by leaving their mark on the awards season.
Since the arrival of the Disney+ streaming platform, more and more heroes have been welcomed into our living rooms as they save the day on their own journeys. However, Marvel will scale down the number of shows it will produce in the future in an attempt to prioritize quality over quantity.
This change was needed due to the fact that the Multiverse Saga has been met with mixed reception. The only downside is that the studio has reduced its chances of winning Emmy awards in the future, and those probabilities became even lower after the recent cancelation of a beloved TV series.
Spider-Noir won a record-breaking number of Emmys for a Marvel TV show two days after its cancelation
Spider-Noir was released to critical success due to its stellar cast, its gripping mystery, and its amazing performances. As such, the Amazon Prime and MGM+ show earned an astounding 11 Emmy nominations and became the second-most-nominated Marvel series, just behind WandaVision. But despite the fact that the wall-crawler was at a disadvantage compared to the Scarlet Witch, he ended up reaching new heights.
Spider-Noir won a record-breaking 5 Emmy Awards and became the most decorated Marvel show ever made. To put into perspective how impressive this achievement is, here are the eight most awarded projects based on a Marvel property:
- Spider-Noir– 5 Emmys
- WandaVision– 3 Emmys
- Jessica Jones– 1 Emmy
- Moon Knight –1 Emmy
- What If…?– 1 Emmy
- Loki –1 Emmy
- Ms. Marvel– 1 Emmy
- Luke Cage– 1 Emmy
Furthermore, these are the categories in which Spider-Noir took the crown:
- Outstanding Title Design
- Outstanding Cinematography For a Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Sound Editing For a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode
- Outstanding Stunt Coordination For Comedy Programming
Unfortunately, these victories were accompanied by a bittersweet taste. After all, Sony and Amazon decided to cancel Spider-Noir just 2 days before it made history during the awards season. On the one hand, the latest Spider-Man show told a self-contained story that didn’t have any major loose ends. On the other hand, Cat Hardy actress Li Jun Li revealed that many actors were contractually obligated to return for a second season if it ever came to pass. That means Marvel was toying with the idea of continuing Ben Reilly’s journey on the small screen, and this notion was recently confirmed.
During an interview with Variety, Spider-Noir showrunner Oren Uziel revealed that he already had some ideas for what a second season could be about:
“You’re starting in 1933. Where is that heading? It’s heading toward just a most cataclysmic time — World War II. There was a lot of storytelling that could have happened there.”
There’s a world where we watched Ben Reilly fight Nazis on the small screen while relearning how to be New York City’s protector. Unfortunately, it’s likely that Sony and Amazon didn’t recoup their initial investment needed to produce the show. After all, Spider-Noir had a staggering $400 million budget. To put this number into perspective, Avengers: Endgame was cheaper to make at $356 million.
It has been reported that one of the reasons the show was so expensive is because it was originally shot to be entirely in black and white. According to a crew member, “sets were all painted green, brown, and pink to compliment the gradients of grey in BW.” As a result, there were massive reshoots to ensure the series could also be viewed in color as well.
If a second season of Spider-Noir were ever greenlit, chances are that the studio would learn from its previous mistakes and that the budget wouldn’t go overboard due to reshoots. Unfortunately, we’ll never know what could’ve been, but even though Ben Reilly’s tale officially came to an end, he definitely went out with a bang by winning five Emmys.
All episodes of Spider-Noir are now streaming on Prime Video.
