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Vigilantes
The Spider-Man
The Spider-Man
Alter ego: Peter Benjamin Parker
Editorial Name: Spider-Man Noir
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
After his Uncle Ben was murdered by Norman Osborn and his gang, Peter eventually found himself being taken under the wing of reporter Ben Urich. This encounter would lead him to be bitten by a magical spider while spying on Osborn's gang, granting him amazing powers and turning him into the Spider-Man.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- While friendly with Ben Urich in the main universe as both Peter and Spider-Man, here Ben helped Peter get a job at the Daily Bugle and became a close friend and mentor. Ben was also present when Norman Osborn had Ben Parker killed, with Ben trying to atone for this by helping Peter. While Ben's jaded cynicism clashed with Peter's youthful optimism the two were close to the point he unintentionally encouraged Peter to keep fighting for justice, and Ben's death was more motivation for Peter to be a hero. In a way, their relationship is not that different from the one between Peter and Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe about seven years after the first comic.
- Peter's friendship with Robbie Robertson, who is roughly Peter's age and a fellow reporter, is much closer than in canon.
- Jameson in this universe is supportive of Spider-Man, mainly since New York is such a terrible place to live in due to the crime and the financial state of the country that a vigilante actually would make things better.
- Adaptational Name Change: A minor case but he is often referred to as The Spider-Man as opposed to just Spider-Man. This is likely to make him more similar to the pulp heroes of that era such as The Shadow and The Spider, and even Batman who was called "The Bat-Man" in his first appearances.
- Adaptational Superpower Change:
- In the comics, Peter's powers derive from being bitten by a radioactive spider. Here, it's the result of a single spider out of a horde that was originally sealed in a magical artifact.
- Downplayed. The mainstream Spider-Man uses mechanical webshooters while this version of Spider-Man can shoot organic webbing from his wrists like their 2099 and Earth-96823 counterparts. Also, in his original two mini-series, Spider-Man does not create web-lines as his dark webbing always manifests as a spray or net.
- Age-Gap Romance: Peter is implied to be in his late teens when they first meet while Felicia is roughly the same age as Ben Urich, who was likely in his mid to late thirties when he died.
- All Webbed Up: Unlike the previous versions of Spider-Man this version can't shoot out his webs other than in sprays or nets.
- Alternate Self: Meets many of his counterparts in Spider-Verse and joins the Web Warriors. His counterparts have also met versions that are more similar to Peter, such as his Earth-12041 counterpart meeting a version that was active in the 1930s.
- Anti-Hero: Due to the tragic life he's led, Spidey is much more willing to kill if he believes there isn't another option. Instead of "With great power, comes great responsibility", the lesson Peter was taught was that "If there is too much power, then it is the responsibility of the people to take it away" which reflects the more communist worldview his aunt and uncle had due to the Depression. However, despite being a darker Spider-Man he gets along well enough with the rest of the Web-Warriors and there is a reason why the Superior Spider-Man chose to not include Peter in his plan to kill the Inheritors unlike with Assassin Spider-Man and Ashley Barton.
- Back from the Dead: Is killed in Spider-Geddon but is resurrected in the 2019 Spider-Verse series.
- Breakout Character: By far the most popular character from Marvel Noir as he has three comic series and has appeared in games, cartoons, and a film. He is also considered to be one of the best alternate Spider-Men.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Unlike his mainstream self, Peter's costume consists of a black airman suit that his uncle wore during the First World War. Despite being much more jaded than his 616 counterpart, Peter still fights for the good of others.
- Innocently Insensitive: Peter is good friends with Robbie Robertson as they share a similar worldview, but at times he is oblivious to certain things and also dismisses Robbie's justified worries about Otto Octavius which shows how the period he is in has changed Peter.
- Le Parkour: Since Peter can't shoot his webs in a straight line for a Building Swing, he gets around by running and leaping across buildings In a Single Bound.
- Love Cannot Overcome: While Peter wants to have a relationship with Felicia in the second comic, she calmly explains that it is impossible due to the different lives they lead and after she is scarred by the Crime-Master their relationship is destroyed. While they seem to have patched things up by the time she becomes White Widow neither mentions their relationship and Peter moved on to Mary Jane.
- Oblivious to Love: Is unaware that Mary Jane is interested in him in Eyes Without A Face due to his complicated relationship with Felicia.
- Reimagining the Artifact: The radioactive spider bite is reimagined in the opposite direction, with Peter's abilities coming from magic to better match the type of pulp stories present during the 1930s.
- Ret-Canon: Due to the success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse the 2020 comic showed Peter being changed to more closely resemble the film's interpretation of the character such as his costume and being a detective.
Punisher
Punisher
Alter ego: Frank Castelione, Jr.
Editorial Name: Punisher Noir
Species: Human
First appearance: Punisher Noir #1 (August 2009)
- Adaptational Name Change: In the main comics his last name is Castle, while his father's last name before he changed it was Castiglione.
- Adaptational Diversity: His mother Ruth was Jewish, and as a child, while it is acknowledged that he doesn't believe in Christianity he still refused to go with his friends to rob a church. In the comics his mother's religion or heritage is never mentioned to be different from Frank's.
- Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: In pretty much every other universe Frank is murdered to provide his father the motivation to become the Punisher, while here he is the Punisher and is pretty good at it despite lacking the training and experience his father usually has.
- And the Adventure Continues: After finally killing those responsible for his father's death, Frank Jr wonders what to do next. Does he continue his work of punishing criminals? Does he go after the other crime bosses like Luciano or Capone? Frank gets his answer when he reads a newspaper about a certain Adolf Hitler.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: A different example of the trope than is usually seen due to Deliberate Values Dissonance, but Frank faced issues due to being an Italian-Jewish boy in the prohibition era with his father thinking to himself how he and his wife suffered from a Maligned Mixed Marriage. Frank joining a gang was his way of coping and trying to belong, though he ultimately left the gang when they tried to rob a church the same night his father was murdered.
- Role Swap AU: In this universe, it was Frank Sr. who was killed while his son went on to declare a one-man war on crime.
- Vague Age: Frank's exact age is hard to pin down as he was drawn to imply that his father was the Punisher, as the comic takes place in 1935 and the flashbacks to his childhood are in 1928. If he was born prior to the US joining WWI in 1917 he would perhaps be in his early twenties, but if he was born 1919 he would 16 at the time the comic takes place.
Daredevil
Daredevil
Alter ego: Matthew Murdock
Editorial Name: Daredevil Noir
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Daredevil: Noir #1 (June 2009)
- Adaptational Job Change: Is an assistant to a private detective instead of a lawyer. This is justified as the chances of a poor and blind orphan becoming a lawyer were impossible in that era.
- Age Lift: Is much younger than most versions, with it implied he's either in his late teens to early twenties.
- Ambiguous Situation: Matt wasn't blinded by radioactive materials in this universe and was blinded when his father's murderer pushed Matt's head against a wall. However his senses are clearly superhuman and since the X-Men are established to be human sociopaths instead of mutants, the actual origin of his abilities is left unknown.
- Intergenerational Friendship: While their exact ages aren't given, there is clearly an age gap between Foggy and Matt.
- Living Lie Detector: Like most versions, he is this. Except Eliza is able to fool him due to being a psychopath able to control her feelings and believe whatever lie she tells, meaning he is shocked to learn that she is the Bullseye Killer.
- Uncertain Doom: His comic ends with him fighting Wilson Fisk to the death, however since Fisk later appears in Edge of Spider-Verse that would imply that he was killed.
Luke Cage
Luke Cage
Notable Aliases: Power Man
Editorial Name: Luke Cage Noir
Species: Human
First appearance: Luke Cage Noir #1 (October 2009)
- Action Dad: He has a son named Luke Cage Jr.
- Adaptational Name Change: Luke Cage is his actual name, while in the main universe his birth name is Carl Lucas.
- Adaptational Wimp: Is a regular human, with his famous feat of surviving being shot being much more mundane as opposed to being superhuman.
White Widow
White Widow
Alter ego: Felicia Hardy
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
The owner of the Black Cat nightclub and a friend and lover to The Spider-Man. After being brutally scarred due to her association with him at the hands of Crime Master, she ends her association with the vigilante. Years later she is used as a hostage by Mysterio, who drains Peter of his blood to get his powers, and while he is defeated Felicia takes it to get powers herself, becoming a vigilante called White Widow.
- Adaptational Wimp: As a result of being a nightclub owner instead of a thief she lacks the skills her main comic self has. However, this is finally averted when she gets powers like Peter and becomes a vigilante.
- Age-Gap Romance: Peter is implied to be in his late teens when they first meet while Felicia is roughly the same age as Ben Urich.
- Age Lift: While their ages are unknown Peter is believed to be in his late teens when they first met while Felicia seems to be the same age as the much older Phil Urich, who was likely in his mid to late thirties when he died.
- Composite Character: Since she is Peter's first love who suffers a tragedy at the hands of a villain she seems to be one for Gwen Stacy. As a female hero with powers she seems similar to Silk and her name brings to mind Black Widow.
- Love Cannot Overcome: While Peter wants to have a relationship with her in the second comic, she calmly explains that it is impossible due to the different lives they lead and after she is scarred by the Crime-Master their relationship is destroyed. While they seem to have patched things up by the time she becomes White Widow neither mentions their relationship and Peter has apparently moved on to Mary Jane.
Logan & Logan Detective Agency
Jim Logan
Jim Logan
Alter ego: James Howlett
Species: Human
First appearance: Wolverine Noir #1 (June 2009)
- Adaptational Wimp: Is a human instead of a mutant, and lacks the decades of experience his counterpart has.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Logan grew up as the son of a reverend who was apparently emotionally abusive towards Logan, though he found an escape through learning martial arts and a friendship with a girl named Rose who he had a crush on. Then he found that Rose was more interested in Dog who bullied Logan, and in his anger he brutally attacked Dog and killed Rose. Except not really as Rose simply had her face heavily scarred and is the Big Bad of the comics.
- Decomposite Character: There is another character called Captain Logan who appears in the X-Men Noir comics who retains the original's connection to the X-Men and Jean Grey, and appears to be unconnected to this version.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Him and Dog are apparently not related in this version.
Dog Logan
Dog Logan
Species: Human
First appearance: Wolverine Noir #1 (June 2009)
- Adaptational Wimp: Is less intelligent than his comic counterpart and is less willing to stand up for himself presumably due to almost being killed by Logan years prior.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Him and Logan are apparently not related in this version.
The Spider-Man Friends & Foes
May Parker
May Parker
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
- Outliving One's Offspring: While he's her nephew, she is forced to experience this when Spider-Gwen comes to tell her that Peter died during Spider-Geddon. However, he is thankfully resurrected not long after.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gives on to Spider-Man after he kills the Vulture, which convinces him to stop killing criminals.
Ben Parker
Ben Parker
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
- Death by Origin Story: Technically subverted, as Ben is killed months prior to the comic, and Ben Urich plays a larger role in causing Peter to become Spider-Man. However, Ben's death is still the motivation for him to stand up to people like Osborn even before getting his powers.
Ben Urich
Ben Urich
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
A reporter who takes Peter Parker under his guidance.
- Broken Pedestal: Peter admired Urich for helping him get a job at the Bugle and for seemingly being a dedicated reporter, but learning that he accepted bribes from the Goblin infuriated him. However since Urich's last moments were trying to fix his mistakes Peter remembers him more fondly.
- Death by Origin Story: Downplayed as he dies after Peter gets his powers and starts fighting crime, but his death motivates Peter further into being Spider-Man.
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face #1 (December 2009)
- Adaptational Personality Change: Like her counterpart from the Spider-Man Trilogy she is more of a "girl next door" type than her original comic portrayal since she doesn't have the confidence to outright admit her interest in Peter, though by the time of Edge of Spider-Verse she seems to have become more confident. Regardless, she has little in common with her original comic self, primarily because being being a teenager in the 1930s means her original party girl characterisation wouldn't work as well as it did in the 1960s.
Robbie Robertson
Joseph Robertson
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face #1 (December 2009)
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: He is close friends with Peter and has never met Jameson, giving them a far different relationship than in canon.
- Composite Character: Seems to take the place of Gwen Stacy, as while he doesn't die he is clearly Peter's greatest failure as Spider-Man.
- Lobotomy: Robbie tragically became a victim of Otto Octavius' lobotomy, turning him into a mindless slave.
- Only Friend: Besides Mary Jane, Robbie is the only friend Peter is shown to have in the comics.
- Younger and Hipper: Is roughly the same age as Peter, or at least only a little bit older.
J. Jonah Jameson
John Jonah Jameson
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
- Adaptational Heroism: Jameson is supportive of Spider-Man in this version and is determined to make people aware of how terrible life is in New York.
- Decomposite Character: Since Robbie is roughly Peter's age and has never met Jameson, it seems their friendship in the comics was transferred to Peter.
The Goblin
The Goblin
Alter ego: Norman Osborn
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
- Adaptation Origin Connection: Ben Parker was killed under Osborn's orders and it was his criminal activities that led to Peter being bitten by the spider that gave him his powers.
- Adaptational Wimp: He lacks the gadgets and superhuman powers of his canon self.
The Enforcers
The Enforcers (Ox, Fancy Dan, Montana, Kraven the Hunter, Vulture, Chameleon)
Alter ego: Raymond Bloch, Daniel Brito, Jackson Brice, Sergei Kravinoff, Adrian Toomes, Dmitri Smerdyako
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir #1 (February 2009)
A group of thugs who work for Norman Osborn, and who all used to be in the circus, like himself.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: All the Enforcers were present and involved in the murder of Ben Parker and were also to blame for the Spider Idol being broken which unleashed the spiders with one biting Peter, making them responsible for Peter becoming Spider-Man.
- Composite Character: While it was under Osborn's orders and the other Enforcers were there, Vulture was the one to kill Ben Parker while in the main universe it was Dennis Carradine.
Otto Octavius
Otto Octavius
Species: Human
First appearance: Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face #1 (December 2009)
A scientist with interest in joining the Nazis.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: Is blond in this version.
- Adaptational Villainy: This version makes his original counterpart seem far more heroic, as he is a petty racist who wants to lobotomize minorities to make them slaves.
- Adaptational Wimp: While he still has mechanical arms they aren't anywhere close to the quality of the original comic version.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: Unlike his mainstream counterpart, this take on Octavius is paraplegic.
- Driven by Envy: He is a racist towards blacks and other non-white people is because he was born disabled and grew to detest his African servants for being able to walk and doing anything he can't do while confined to his wheelchair.
- Evil Cripple: This version of Otto is a racist eugenicist born with deformed legs and confines on a wheelchair.
- Irony: Otto is a racist eugenicist who looks down on nonwhites as inferiors. But when he is deported to Nazi Germany, he is treated with absolute disdain by Heinrich Himmler for being born with deformed legs and deeming him "useless" to the Nazis for not fitting the criteria of a physically fit Aryan race.
- Laser-Guided Karma: At first it looked like he was going to get away with his crimes, but when he gets to Germany the Nazis, especially Heinrich Himmler himself, reject him when they learn he was born with his disability.
- Mad Scientist: He is a eugenicist specialized in neurology and use his expertise in turning black people into lobotomized slaves.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He is a racist, but he isn't completely on board with outright genocide because he sees it as "wasteful".
- Sub-Par Supremacist: His hatred of black people is motivated by jealousy that his family's black servants could walk while he was confined to a wheelchair due to being born with deformed legs. While he idolizes the Nazis, Himmler treats him with absolute disdain when they finally meet, since people with birth defects like his were ostracized at best by the Third Reich.
Daredevil Friends & Foes
Foggy Nelson
Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Species: Human
First appearance: Daredevil: Noir #1 (June 2009)
- Adaptational Job Change: Is a private detective instead of a lawyer.
- Intergenerational Friendship: While their exact ages aren't given, there is clearly an age gap between Foggy and Matt.
Kingpin
Kingpin
Alter ego: Wilson Fisk
Species: Human
First appearance: Daredevil: Noir #1 (June 2009)
A crime boss.
- Arch-Enemy: As usual, he has this dynamic with Daredevil.
Eliza
Eliza
Notable Aliases: Bullseye Killer
Species: Human
First appearance: Daredevil: Noir #1 (June 2009)
Seemingly an innocent woman looking for help, she turns out to be the infamous assassin known as the Bullseye Killer.
- Adaptational Name Change: Bullseye's first name is Lester in the comics.
- Believing Their Own Lies: To the point that she can fool a Living Lie Detector like Matt, as she can convince herself that she is telling the truth to avoid her heart rate changing.
- Composite Character: Seems to be a combination of Bullseye and Elektra, the latter of whom was famously killed by the former in the main comic universe.
- Gender Flip: The traditionally male Bullseye is turned into a woman.
- Promoted to Love Interest: As a result of also being based on Elektra
