Dragon Con 2019: Fabrice Sapolsky Talks Co-Creating SPIDER-MAN NOIR
September 11, 2019By now you’ve had to have seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which featured a handful of Spidey-themed characters from other dimensions. We were fortunate enough to snag an interview with the co-creator of one of the characters in the film, Spider-Man Noir, via Fabrice Sapolsky, while at Dragon Con and he filled us in on the origin of the web-swinging, depression-era detective.
In the 2018 Marvel/Sony animated feature film, the character, which is voiced by Nicolas Cage, is portrayed a bit different, though remains maintaining his 1930s vibe and origin. In the comics, he resides in New York City on Earth-90214. His Uncle, Ben Parker, is murdered by The Goblin, aka Norman Osborn, and his gang of goons. Peter Parker is driven by idealism and values instilled in him by his uncle and Aunt, May Parker, believing that if those in power can’t be trusted then it’s up to him to remove the corrupted from office.
GXP: Talk about Spider-Man Noir, where did the idea come from?
FS: “The character spawned out of a dream that I had when I was in London in 2006. In the dream, which is where the first issue of the first series begins, he’s being chased by the cops in 1932. J. Jonah Jameson is dead and the title of the Bugle that day read, ‘Who killed Jameson? Is Spider-Man Friend or Foe?’, and so I got breakfast the next morning with a dear friend of mine, David Hine, and I pitched him the idea. He initially told me it was ridiculous and wouldn’t work, but later changed his mind. We got the green light, so we ended up writing the first series together and have partnered since on all Spider-Man Noir stories.”
GXP: What makes the character standout from the other Spider-Verse characters?
FS: “With this character, it’s important to remember that there was no Spider-Verse, no multiple universes, what-so-ever, when we pitched it. Marvel had stopped doing ‘What If…?’ stories. Nothing. There was only Spider-Man 2099. We were kind of on our own with it. Luckily, Joe Quesada, who was the editor-in-chief at the time, loved it, and it was signed off immediately. We had to wait almost two years to get the book out though. Which, at that point, the whole first miniseries was already completed. There was also initially a plan for other noir-themed books to come out, but the Spider-Man Noir series was the only one to survive.”
GXP: What was it like for you to see your character come to life in the Miles Morales-centered film?
FS: “It was a divine experience! It was surreal. I learned about it, like everyone else did, in the news. No one had informed us it was happening. I initially wondered how they were going to make it work, because if you read the series, it’s pretty dark, gritty and violent. However, they did a great job with the character in the movie. He was a different version, though retained some of the iconic elements that we instilled in the character, but it was still for everyone. It brought on a whole new generation of people and has sparked new- and old interest in our past Spider-Man Noir series, which is great! I was extremely happy with it!”
GXP: Anything new in your world, what type of projects do you have coming up?
FS: “I have quite a lot of projects brewing, as well as my duties as editor for Humanoids Publishing. So, I’m always busy. As a creator, I’m republishing my Image Comics series, One-Hit Wonder, which has never been adapted as a collected graphic novel, but now will be. I’m also launching a series next year, that I will both write and draw called, Over My Dead Body. I also have one more project coming in 2020, which I can’t fully divulge yet, but it chronicles my journey as an immigrant in Trump’s America.”
Want more? Click HERE for the Marvel article, ‘Spider-Verse: Everything You Need to Know About Spider-Man Noir‘.
