Canadian cinema employee’s hand-drawn ‘Spider-Man’ poster goes viral after official artwork fails to arrive
A Canadian cinema employee’s hand-drawn Spider-Man: Brand New Day poster went viral after the theatre failed to receive the official artwork in time. The poster, inspired by the “Spooder-Man” meme, drew widespread praise online before reportedly being removed after a request from the studio’s head office.
- A cinema employee in British Columbia drew his own Spider-Man poster after shipping issues delayed the official promotional artwork.
- The hand-drawn design went viral on Reddit, with users praising it and some saying they preferred it to the official poster.
- The poster was later removed after the cinema’s head office reportedly received a request from the studio, though the artist said he may produce limited copies.
CANADA: A cinema employee in British Columbia, Canada, has drawn widespread attention online after creating a hand-drawn Spider-Man: Brand New Day poster when the theatre did not receive the film’s official promotional artwork in time.
The unusual poster was created by Drake Landon, an employee at a Famous Players cinema in Prince George, British Columbia. His drawing was inspired by the “Spooder-Man” meme, a humorous depiction of the superhero that became popular online in the 2010s.
The hand-drawn artwork was displayed at the cinema in place of the official poster and featured lettering styled similarly to the film’s promotional material.
A note on the drawing explained that the theatre had not received its official posters, with several deliberately misspelled words adding to the humour of the makeshift display.
Hand-drawn poster draws online praise
A photograph of the poster was shared on Reddit, where it quickly attracted attention from users impressed by the employee’s artwork.
Landon later identified himself as the artist in the comments, explaining that the cinema had not received the official poster because of shipping problems.
He said his manager had asked him to draw a replacement, adding that he never expected the artwork to attract such widespread attention.
Many Reddit users praised the drawing and said they preferred it to the official promotional artwork.
Comments included calls for the hand-drawn poster to become a collector’s item, while some users jokingly described the character as a “Spider-potato” and compared it favourably with AI-generated artwork.
Landon later told The Hollywood Reporter that he was surprised by the attention, saying it was “crazy” that his artwork had travelled so far despite being created as a simple replacement.
He also confirmed that the “Spooder-Man” meme was the inspiration behind the drawing.
Poster removed after studio request
The poster's online popularity was followed by a further update from Landon on Reddit on 13 August.
He revealed that the artwork had been taken down from the cinema after his boss told him that the studio’s head office had requested its removal.
Landon said he understood the reason for the request and did not want to cause problems for the studio.
However, he said he had recovered the original poster and was considering producing a limited number of copies or creating re-drawn versions.
The hand-drawn poster was created as Spider-Man: Brand New Day continued its strong box-office run.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film surpassed several records previously held by Avengers: Endgame, including becoming the fastest film to reach US$500 million in domestic box-office revenue, doing so in seven days compared with eight days for Endgame.
It also recorded the highest domestic grosses for a Monday and Tuesday, became the second-fastest film to surpass US$1 billion globally and recorded the third-highest second weekend in domestic box-office history.
