Should You Watch ‘Spider-Noir’ in Black & White or Color?
The live action spin-off of Nic Cage’s character from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, called Spider-Noir of course, offers a rare choice for viewers. We kind of have the opportunity to travel back in time. Here’s what you need to know about the best way to watch Spider-Noir on Prime Video, and whether you should watch the supernatural detective series color or black & white.When you select an episode, you’re given a choose-your-own-adventure set of options: “true hue color” or “authentic black & white.” Sure enough, one version is in color and the other’s in black & white. Is it any deeper than that? Are the Old Hollywood police going to show up at your house if you select the color version?I recently made the mistake of watching a colorized version of a film from 1953 that looked ghoulish. Back in the day, artists painted over the existing monochromatic film frames to varying effects and, in certain cinephile circles, colorization is looked down upon. So it’s a real concern. Spider-Noir, however, looks great both ways.It’s an homage to the origins of film noir as a genre, and subsequent Technicolor colorization of old films, but done digitally. The show was shot with contemporary cameras, filters, and old school lighting effects to give it an early 20th century feel in 4K. According to Esquire, the raw footage was processed twice to create each version of the show. (I cannot imagine how annoying that made the editing process.)Check out some side-by-side stills from both versions of the show below:True Hue Color vs. Authentic Black & WhiteOpen GalleryYou kind of can’t go wrong. However, warning: if you let the episodes autoplay on Prime Video, the streaming service will flip back and forth between versions every episode. While that clearly means that Prime Video wants you to watch both versions, it does make the binge a little annoying if you’re trying to stick with your choice.My verdict is that you want to respect the “noir” experience, watch Spider-Noir in black & white. There are some shots with big shadows that just don’t look as good in color. Plus, how often do you get to watch a new show like that these days? It feels vintage, fun, and immersive in a way. It’s different from just about any other superhero show out there. (We still talk about you, WandaVision!)But the costuming—especially on Lamorne Morris’ and Li Jun Li’s stylish characters—doesn’t look as good in black & white and makes watching Spider-Noir in technicolor at least once worth your while.Either way, you’re going to be tuning into an incredible new series that will certainly make you want more from this world.
