Things are most certainly not looking great for the Spider-Sleuth. Not only did it turn out that he was responsible for the death of the father of his current love interest Gwen Stacy (albeit accidentally and in self-defense), causing no shortage of complications in his personal life, but now he finds himself with his powers gone. Not just gone, but stolen by a crazed monstrosity that escaped from the laboratory of the Nazi scientist Dr. Helga Haag, who is now carving a bloody trail through the city dressed as Spider-Man in some twisted version of justice. Powerless, but still determined to keep Gwen safe, Peter arrives at her place just in time for an eerie voice to say her name...
*Mild spoilers ahead for Spider-Man Noir (2025) #5*
A masked figure in black smashes through the window, their hand outstretched as they repeats a single word ominously: Gwendolyn. Before Peter can react, the villain knocks him aside as they reach for Gwen, who's armed but too stunned to shoot. Peter bravely attempts to fight the imposter, but he knows it's an effort in futility. After all, up until recently it had been him who had possessed the superhuman strength and reflexes now wielded by this still-unknown monstrosity. And thanks to their stolen Spider-Sense, there's no way the imposter can be hurt by either of them.
Or so Peter thought.
Gwen manages to shoot the villain, her bullets finding their marks in their skull and chest to drop the creature. As a sickly green blood flows out of his body, Peter kneels down to unmask the menace, leading to a shocking reveal that shakes them both.
A few days later, Peter trails some police officers to the Black Cat Club, where he overhears them discussing something called the "New World Order." Certain that this can't be anything good, Peter follows them to their meeting at the church where he previously fought Plasma-Man, and makes a major discovery: the New World Order and the Scorpion Gang are all working with the Nazis! They're trying to awaken the giant stone idol seen in issue 3, which has remained dormant since one of the diamonds was missing. A diamond that had found its way to Peter, until it went missing from his office. Could they have found it at last? And if so, can Peter possibly hope to stop them without his powers?
To say this issue had stakes would be an understatement. After the build-up of the previous issues, it's all come down to this last final battle between a powerless Spider-Man and a horde of Nazis (led by yet another super-powered masked individual) attempting to awaken some great weapon. And yet, so much of the issue feels like an extended epilogue to the conflict at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, the story is great, and it neatly ties up the plots introduced over the previous four issues. But given the way so much of the story has dealt with Peter's conflict between his life as Spider-Man and his personal life, I feel it would have been more interesting to make the climax be more centered around his battle with the imposter. If nothing else, it would have made for a more poetic ending, neatly closing out the shadowy series with a final battle between Peter and Spider-Man (more or less).
As it is, though, the ending we get is certainly exciting enough. We get a massive battle between the new Hardboil (who offers an amazing entrance) and her gang, and the Nazi forces, which then becomes even more chaotic once they notice the powerless Spider-Man hanging out in the rafters. We get yet another shocking (and grotesque) reveal for our other mysterious villain. And when it's all said and done, we get a nice ending that closes the saga on a high note that ties up all the threads while still leaving the door open for more (though this could prove to be difficult given one particular aspect of the conclusion).
So what's the overall consensus? Personally, I loved the story. Could it have stuck to being more of a straight mystery tale as the first issue indicated? Sure, and I would have greatly enjoyed it, especially as a contrast to the mainline Spider-Man. But while what we were given deviated from that tone, it ultimately proved to make that initial mystery so much bigger than it initially appeared.
There were flaws, of course. Ideas that created questions that were never answered (such as whatever is going on with Hardboil or those ghosts from issue 4), or plot points that felt a bit too convenient. But these are easily overlooked because of how much fun the overall story is. And ultimately, isn't that what matters most in a comic book?
Spider-Man Noir (2025) #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.
