Prince George movie theatre employee goes viral after hand drawing Spider-Man poster
When the official poster never showed up, a movie theatre employee drew its replacement
When the Famous Players Six theatre in Prince George, B.C., never received the posters for the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day, employee and artist Drake Landon stepped in.
Landon says the theatre never received the promotional posters for the latest Spider-Man release because of a shipping error, so his manager asked 19-year-old Landon to draw a replacement in the style of the internet meme Spooderman.
Spooderman features a crudely drawn, MS Paint parody of Marvel’s Spider-Man which first appeared around 2012.
"I said I can draw actual Spider-Man, but I'm not gonna argue, I'll draw Spooderman," said Landon, explaining he tried to draw Spooderman according to the character's Brand New Day design.
Underneath his drawing of the movie poster, Landon wrote a simple explanation: "Sorry we never received the real posters! Sorry for any inconveniences!"
"We thought it was awesome," said movie-goer Adam Woodrow, who spotted the poster on a visit to Famous Players with this son Rogan.
Rogan took a photo of Landon beside his poster and shared it online to local community groups.
Posts about Landon and the Spooderman poster have since garnered a lot of attention online, accumulating thousands of likes across platforms including the Marvel Studios subreddit where it has over 54,000 upvotes.
He says people have told him he should draw every movie poster at the theatre or sell his own Spooderman drawings.
Landon says he says he prefers to draw robots, intricate machines, and weapons in his spare time.
"I'm happy that I'm recognized for it, but like it's a simple drawing based off of a meme that's already a drawing," he said. "I'd say credit mostly goes to the idea of Spooderman, whoever drew it originally years ago."
Landon's dad Craig, however, couldn't be more proud that his son is getting praised for his creativity.
"He's been [drawing] for years so it's nice to see him get some attention for it," Craig Landon said.
"He's a bit taken back by all the exposure, but that's the way the world is these days and when it hits online and goes a bit viral, people love it."
Cineplex says they will be taking down Landon's drawing in order to put up the official Spider-Man: Brand New Day poster, but will find a new home for the hand-drawn rendition within the theatre.
Landon says he hopes to make his own prints of the now iconic poster.
With files from Sarah Penton