The cancellation of Spider-Noir felt sudden. In terms of Marvel IPs, this series was one of the most original stories since comics were adapted into film and television, featuring a strong cast and an aesthetic style that was completely unexpected, perfectly blending form and content—something the franchise had never attempted before. However, Amazon, known for its lavish spending (yes, we're looking at you, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), canceled this nascent series citing budget reasons.
Following the cancellation of Spider-Noir, Nicolas Cage, who played Ben Reilly, did not let the matter rest, especially regarding whether he would continue to work with Amazon Studios.
In an interview with Variety at New York Comic Con today, the actor stated, "I probably won't be working with this studio again, but that's okay." What is the main reason for his refusal to return? It has less to do with the cancellation of Spider-Noir and more to do with Amazon Studios' stance on artificial intelligence.
"Amazon is a company that strongly supports AI; they have invested $50 billion in OpenAI. I am not an actor who supports AI, so the reasoning here is obvious! I am not their member. I never signed any authorization allowing them to use AI in Spider-Noir."
Cage has publicly declared his anti-AI stance—fans rally in support
The audience cheered when he announced that he had not signed the AI authorization agreement for Spider-Noir. While some netizens believed Cage was simply upset about losing a potential series, most reactions mirrored his statements at New York Comic Con, with fans of the series and actors alike appreciating his adherence to artistic integrity."
A netizen applauded on social media, sayingCage refusing to sign an AI authorization agreement for his own face is so on-brand for Nicolas Cage. Honestly, he's right; once you sign that agreement, your likeness no longer belongs to you." Another netizen commented: "Kudos to Nicolas Cage for standing his ground. AI should not come at the expense of actors' consent and creative rights."
Reuters initially reported that Amazon had established an entity called the "AI Studio," led by executive Albert Cheng, primarily dedicated to streamlining production processes to reduce costs, covering Everythinggj from pre-production planning to post-production editing. Cheng stated that the main goal of this "studio" was to improve creative workflows while still retaining the involvement of creative personnel.
As is well known, this decision was unpopular among creative professionals. Nicolas Cage's stance confirms this, as he refused to collaborate with the studio again, despite Amazon's insistence that new generative AI would not replace actors or writers. Furthermore, thousands have signed a petition demanding that AI be excluded from the creative industries.
