A hand-drawn Spider-Man poster made by a theater employee in a small Canadian city has gone viral online, earning praise from fans, the theater chain's leadership, and people who simply appreciated the honesty of the note written at the bottom.
Drake Landon, who works at a Famous Players theater in Prince George, British Columbia, created the illustration after the official promotional materials for Spider-Man: Brand New Day never arrived in time for the film's release. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Landon drew the poster himself, taking inspiration from the Spooder-Man meme that circulated widely in the 2010s. The hand-lettered title closely mimics the font of the official marketing materials.
A note at the bottom of the poster explains the situation directly. It reads, "Sorry! We never recieved the real posters! Sorry for any inconviniences!" The spelling errors, as The Hollywood Reporter noted, are preserved exactly as written and have added to the widespread affection for the image.
A Reddit post featuring pictures of the poster received more than 51,000 upvotes. Landon told The Hollywood Reporter the reaction has been "very unexpected," adding that he is "kinda still not realizing how big it is." He also said, "It's crazy that my art has gone that far for something so simple."
Michelle Saba, vice president of communications for Cineplex, which owns Famous Players, offered a statement on the moment. "Our team did have a little fun as they awaited the arrival of their Spider-Man: Brand New Day poster," she said.
A Facebook post from a moviegoer named Adam Woodrow who visited the theater also spread widely. Woodrow wrote, "My son Rogan and I stopped to appreciate this hand drawn movie poster at the theatre today and thought it was awesome. Then we got a chance to meet the artist, Drake. So my son decided to take a picture of the artist with his art work and we thought we should share it for everyone to check out." He closed with, "Keep it up Drake!"
The timing of the poster's viral spread is notable given how dominant the film has been at the box office. Spider-Man: Brand New Day set the record for the highest-grossing first week in domestic box office history, surpassing a mark previously held by Avengers: Endgame. It also reached $500 million domestically in its first seven days, compared to eight days for Endgame, and recorded the best-ever domestic box office totals for both a Monday and a Tuesday. The film is the second-fastest ever to reach $1 billion globally, and posted the third-best second weekend ever at the domestic box office.
Landon has since been photographed posing next to his creation at the theater.