Editorials
The Invisible Man for a New Generation: Revisiting Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Hollow Man’
H.G. Wells‘ 1897 novel The Invisible Man revolved around Griffin, a scientist who uses himself as a test subject for his experimental serum, rendering himself invisible. He’s unable to reverse the process, though, and he subsequently spirals out of control, resulting in multiple murders. Both the novel and Griffin have inspired countless adaptations since, including Universal Picture’s 1933 classic. Nearly twenty years ago, Hollow Man drew from the original story to create something much more modern and mean-spirited; this big-budget sci-fi spectacle delivered a sleazy central character and one seriously violent finale.
The eponymous Hollow Man is Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon), an arrogant scientist working on an invisibility serum for the Pentagon. Up until the precise moment Caine volunteers himself as the first human test subject, an unethical and illegal move, the film spends some time introducing his God complex. He’s addicted to attention and power, loves materialism, adores defying authority, and he views women as mere objects to be used and discarded. He’s particularly persistent in his attempts to win back his ex, Linda (Elisabeth Shue), not only because they work together, but because he views the pursuit as a challenge. In other words, the “hollow” in the title refers to Caine as a person, long before he’s rendered himself invisible.
That the opening scene shows a mouse horrifically ripped apart by an enraged and invisible gorilla driven mad by the serum sets up two crucial points; the serum affects aggression levels, and this version of the story will end violently. When Caine first undergoes the procedure, he quickly adjusts to life undetected by playing pranks on his colleagues and inappropriately touching the women. When the reverse method fails, he grows increasingly stir crazy.
Eventually, Caine finds ways to sneak off, growing more brazen by his invisibility the longer he’s unable to return to form. That includes the horrific rape of a neighbor he lusted after from afar, and a brutal bludgeoning of an animal test subject. It’s when his colleagues finally realize they need to alert their military employers of Caine’s status that he decides to cut ties and destroy any evidence of his tests, which means destroying both the lab and those in it. Cue the violent slasher-like third act.
Director Paul Verhoeven was aiming for something much more accessible and commercially appealing in his follow up to Starship Troopers. Instead, he wound up helming a feature he’s publicly disowned over the years. In a 2016 interview with Hollywood Reporter, he said, “I can defend Showgirls, but not Hollow Man.” His experience working on Hollow Man also marked the last Hollywood film that the director made. It’s the least Verhoeven feeling Verhoeven film of his filmography and one that feels superficial on a narrative level. Yet it’s very slickly produced with some smart ways of making invisibility visually exciting. So much that Hollow Man earned a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Penned by End of Days screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe, the biggest flaw of the narrative is the love triangle between Caine, Linda, and Matt (Josh Brolin). Matt is Caine’s perfect opposite, the more grounded and morally pure scientist to balance out Caine’s impulsivity and ego. Linda tells Matt that the concept of Caine is more attractive than the actual person, but there’s still residual attraction leftover. Though on a much smaller scale, Linda’s ambition and loyalty to Caine make her just as much to blame for his villainous turn as he is, his propensity for evil was there from the outset, but she enabled him. Worst of all, though, is that Linda and Matt – as they all are- are paper-thin characters. The actors bring enough energy and talent to propel the chaos forward, but it’s hard to develop a rooting interest for any of them.
Caine and The Invisible Man’s Griffin ultimately share the same arch, but Griffin’s feels more unhinged, tragic, and grander. The confined lab space and Caine’s motivations reduce him to a super-powered rapist and cruel animal killer that can’t let go of office grudges. That’s an oversimplification, but it does feel like a significant wasted opportunity to not bother with scares or tension until the final act. The idea of a menacing maniac lurking nearby, unseen, should feel a lot more dangerous than it does in the Hollow Man.
Bacon fully commits to his vile character, and despite Verhoeven’s vocal disappointment of his film, it does present a uniquely modern take on a classic literary monster. One with a rare blockbuster budget, no less. Slick production values and a fantastically bloody finale make for a fascinating entry in 2000’s horror catalog and a more modern depiction of the corruptive nature of power along with it. Above all, it shows that there’s still plenty of room to explore new horror-fueled takes on The Invisible Man.
Comics
‘Spider-Noir’ Comic Changes Explained: How the TV Series Reinvents Marvel’s Darkest Spider-Man
A little while back, I wrote an article chronicling the Hellraiser franchise’s affinity for Film Noir and touched on how that genre has, historically, always been connected to horror.
This connection can be observed in everything from the cannibalistic serial killers of Frank Miller’s Sin City to the disturbing criminal plots fueling neo-noir thrillers like Stuart Gordon’s underrated King of the Ants. That’s why it came as no surprise when I finally sat down to watch all eight episodes of Prime Video’s recently released Spider-Noir series and was confronted with plenty of classic horror tropes.
What did come as a surprise, however, was how showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot approached these horror elements when compared to the 2009 comic book that the show is based on. From the heavily altered rogue’s gallery to an equally terrifying yet completely different origin story for Nicolas Cage’s take on the webslinger, there are plenty of changes here that I feel might be of interest to genre fans.
With that in mind, I’d like to invite readers to take a closer look at all the adjustments that Spider-Noir made to the story in order to bring this incarnation of Spider-Man to life in all of its monochromatic glory (unless you watched the True-Hue color version of the show, in which case you’ll be treated to a surprisingly comic-booky palette that you don’t usually see on television).
The Dark Origins of Marvel’s Spider-Man Noir
Our first order of business should be to examine the origins of the Noir comics themselves. Originally published as part of the Marvel Noir alternate universe that reimagined several characters as hard-boiled crime-fighters, Spider-Man Noir became the most successful book in the entire run. This highly politicized story about Peter Parker coming to terms with the capitalist evils of the Great Depression seemed to have struck a nerve with audiences looking for a darker take on the wall-crawler, which is likely why we’d soon see several sequel stories as well as a video game adaptation of the character in 2010’s underrated Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
Of course, it wasn’t just Spider-Man’s darker disposition that made this version of the character a hit, as 1930s New York City was depicted as being much more hostile than what we generally see in the standard Marvel Universe. From Peter’s powers coming from an Eldritch Spider God that spawns man-eating arachnids to Vulture being an ex-Freak-Show Gimp with a taste for human flesh, you can definitely understand why this Web-Head isn’t pulling his punches.
Unfortunately, this alternate universe was a little too popular for its own good, with each subsequent sequel/adaptation further diluting the political anger and classic horror influences that fueled the original comic-book run in order to appeal to a wider audience. Spider-Man Noir was nearly unrecognizable once we got to the Spider-Verse crossover that turned the character into a household name, though this would at least lead to an interesting adaptation in 2018.
The Classic Horror Influences Hidden Throughout Spider-Noir
Jack Huston as Sandman in ‘Spider-Noir’
When Phil Lord and Chris Miller finally translated Spider-Man Noir to the big screen, with Nicolas Cage bringing the character to life in an unexpected case of pitch-perfect casting, he was still mostly relegated to comic relief as his nazi-punching antics and over-the-top edginess were played for laughs. However, while this version of the character had little to do with the comics that spawned him, Spider-Noir’s newfound popularity eventually resulted in the announcement of a darker live-action spin-off – a spin-off that I was cautiously optimistic about.
While the showrunners ultimately decided to go in a completely different direction than the 2009 comic, the new team of writers appeared to understand Noir as a genre in ways that even the folks at Marvel Noir couldn’t quite grasp. That’s likely why 2026’s Spider-Noir boasts plenty of horror elements, just not in ways we’ve seen them before.
The series is obviously borrowing tropes and aesthetics from period-accurate monster movies, with Universal’s 1930s output being a particularly big influence. From the re-imagining of Sandman and Tombstone as tragic figures to The Spider even being operated on by a mad scientist with hilariously antiquated techniques, this bizarre collection of super-powered freaks could have easily shown up in a classic creature feature.
The scares aren’t all retro, however, as the showrunners also injected plenty of body-horror into the mix during their attempt at unifying the origin stories for all these larger-than-life characters. Hell, the Spider himself is now revealed to have gained his powers after being bitten by a half-mutated Man-Spider during World War I, and the aforementioned mad scientist keeps a disturbing collection of failed experiments in her basement, proving that not all of her patients were lucky enough to simply gain superpowers after being experimented on.
Nicolas Cage Reinvents Spider-Man Noir for Television
Ben Reilly/Spiderman (Nicolas Cage) in SPIDER-NOIR
Photo: Aaron Epstein/Prime
© Amazon Content Services LLC
I also really appreciate how Cage insists on depicting Ben Reilly as an arachnid trapped inside of a human body, with his uncanny physical performance and classic Hollywood impressions keeping your eyes glued to the screen while also providing some of the show’s funniest moments.
I still think it’s a shame that the character is no longer politically motivated, and I miss the detail about Uncle Ben having been cannibalized by Vulture after his social activism ruffled too many feathers, but at least this time our protagonist actually feels like someone who could have been written by Raymond Chandler if he were a fan of Superheroes.
In fact, the writers nailed the snappy back-and-forth that Noir authors like Dashiel Hammett used to refer to as the “riposte”, and it’s fun to see supervillains being depicted as horrific movie monsters instead of specialized henchmen – with The Spider feeling like just as much of a Freak Show attraction as the rest of them. Purists might be put off by the lack of reverence for the source material, but I think that’s a small price to pay when even the show’s most clichéd moments intentionally harken back to the golden age of Hollywood.
That’s why I’d argue that Amazon’s Spider-Noir isn’t really an adaptation, but rather an equally valid take on the same premise that inspired Marvel back in 2009. And in a world filled with recycled storylines that only serve to advertise future releases, I’d rather have two completely different visions of the same character than a straight-up retelling of the same handful of ideas.
At the end of the day, there’s enough space inside this comic fan’s heart for both man-eating Vultures and a Cronenberg-inspired Man-Spider. And if you’re also a fan of nostalgic creature features with comic book flair, I’d highly recommend this street-level superhero story with a spooky twist.
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