In this review of Spider-Man Noir #5, after Peter Parker loses his powers during a struggle with the mystery character in the diving helmet, is it going to become Spider-Man: Noir...no more?
Spider-Man Noir #5
Writer: ERIK LARSEN
Artist: ANDREA BROCCARDO
Main Cover: SIMONE DI MEO
Variant Covers: ERIK LARSEN
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: February 11, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Spider-Man Noir #5 begins with the masked stranger in a Spider-Man costume busting into Gwen Stacy’s home and the depowered Peter Parker struggling to fend off the mystery assailant. A terrified Gwen shoots “Spider-Man” with her father’s gun, killing him. Unmasked, the intruder is revealed to be former corrupt police officer (and the formerly dead) George Stacy, Gwen’s father.
George Stacy’s body is covered in the sickly green substance that was used to revive him by Nazi scientist Helga Haag before he escaped from her lab and wreaked havoc in New York last issue.
Gwen is in shock over the reveal of “Spider-Man’s” identity (and probably by the fact that she just killed her own father). Meanwhile, Peter uses the convenient plot twist to pin everything about George Stacy’s original killing on Stacy himself. As it turns out, Stacy wasn’t just a crooked cop, he was also a Nazi sympathizer. Even with all of the fallout, Pete excuses himself to investigate the brewing Nazi plot at a local church.
The still depowered Pete sneaks into the church as Spider-Man and witnesses the Nazis attempting to revive a giant statue with a stolen gem from the docks heist, but the gambit fails. Complicating matters, the new Hardboil bursts into the church with a flamethrower. The Hardboil gang and the Nazis battle each other, wreaking havoc in the church, but they redirect their attention when somebody spots Spider-Man.
Pete plunges toward the ground as his perch shatters, but he realizes that his powers have returned in time to save his life and to help break up the fight, (the super powered Nazi turned out to be a just horde of sentient cockroaches in a special suit) . The police take away the bad guys and Spider-Man takes off.
Spider-Man Noir #5 ends with an epilogue as Gwen decides to take some alone time to process her grief and Pete talks with both Aunt May and Mary Jane about his future plans as just Peter Parker: private eye.
Analysis
Spider-Man Noir #5 wraps up this miniseries with mostly what amounts to a checklist of plot threads to wrap up. The convenience of Pete’s not revealing his secret identity to Gwen before works in his favor when the confused and revived George Stacy appears to be his own killer, (and it turns out that Stacy was both a dirty cop and a secret Nazi). Gwen leaving town was obvious and it is convenient for Pete’s cover story to drop the dual identity bit for a spell.
When George Stacy accidentally stole Peter’s spider powers, he also absorbed some of Peter’s memories and the confused George Stacy believed that he was actually Spider-Man and had to protect Gwen. Stacy was a noble and honorable former cop in the classic Spider-Man series so this heel turn is a stunner.
Erik Larsen’s writing is serviceable but wholly predictable. The reveals were obvious, Peter’s powers returning was expected and the wrap up with Gwen Stacy was never in doubt. However Peter ditching his heroic duties and focusing on his private eye work (for now) was an unexpected twist.
The Nazi’s anti-immigrant sentiment rings loud and clear in Spider-Man Noir #5, and while not particularly nuanced, it is still an important parallel to current events. Marvel Comics has addressed real world issues in the past (with some controversy granted), and in this series Peter Parker never shies away from protecting the weak and huddled masses of New York, or openly proclaiming his distaste for fascist thinking.
Andrea Broccardo’s art is remarkable as always: the action scenes and layouts are thrilling and the backgrounds are well-detailed, but the series can’t sell itself completely on good looks alone. The story lacks a true pulpy feel of previous outings, as Larsen’s attempts at the noir dialogue read as overly clunky.
Final Thoughts
Spider-Man Noir #5 wraps up the series with few surprises and some convenient plot twists, but fans of the character and/or breezy pulp fiction adventures (with a slightly darker bent), gorgeous art and a meaningful message might still get a kick out of it anyway.
