Civil War Why isn't Spider-Man in advertising?

[Comic Book Guy]

Spider-Man isn't in any of the advertising for this movie at all. Why? My theory is that for some reason the deal Marvel and Sony came up with doesn't allow for Marvel to use Spider-Man to promote their movies as Sony gets no money from them.

 

[Chesterfield]

Did this really need its own thread? Anyway, I take it you haven't seen the second theatrical trailer that was released more than a month ago, which has spidey in it!

Some things should still be kept a surprise and have little exposure to save for the actual movie.

 

[TheVision]

Once the movie is out hopefully we'll see some new Spidey footage popping up online etc

 

[third3ye]

2nd trailer has Spidey so don't think it's a studio rights issue. The Russos interview was a long while ago so may not be relevant anymore. Maybe Marvel simply wants to save more of this character for the actual movie

 

[ernesth100]

It's likely they wanna save the the majority of his scenes for on the big screen. But we're a couple weeks away dude. Even less for people outside of America. We can wait a few days.

 

[Comic Book Guy]

I haven't seen the second trailer on a movie and that's the only piece of advertising with him on it amongst hundreds of others.

 

[Iceman]

The trailer is one of the most (if not THE most) important individual pieces of marketing though. This film seems to have plenty to sell itself with while also keeping plenty in reserve to get people to go crazy when they see certain scenes for the first time too.

 

[Another_Fool]

I think the main reason is they are trying to advertise him at a level to match the proportion that he will be in the film. Based on what has been said in reviews etc, while his role is pivotal he's not in the movie all that much. You start advertising him to say the level of Bucky or even Black Panther, that creates an opening for criticism that he doesn't appear as much as the ads make him.

Think Captain Phasma from TFA, or even the Rhino in ASM2. How often did people start using those characters as a point of critique against those movies simply because they were advertised more times than they appeared in the movie? The key is leveling the audience's expectation.

At least that's my opinion.

 

[TheLastAvenger]

While there could be a thousand reasons that have nothing to do with rights issues, I have a very difficult time believing Marvel would be that coy about Spider-Man appearing in this film otherwise. If you didn't watch the second trailer, then you'd have no reason to even know he's in it. I haven't followed the TV spots very much, but I don't think a single one has shown Spider-Man at all. Even Vision began to appear in AoU spots near release.

I don't know why Sony would want to limit exposure, but I'd be shocked if they didn't play some role in it.

 

[kguillou]

Ironically, since Spidey isn't in any advertising or marketing, I'm almost wondering if it would have been better to keep him a secret altogether. Think about it. If there were toys and shirts and all this marketing material planned with Spidey included like say...Wonder Woman in BvS then yes, it makes total sense to show him off in the trailer. But if he's going to be absent completely from marketing....maybe it would've been wise to conceal him altogether so that people have a total "OH ****!!!!!" moment when they see the movie. Then again....I guess it would've been spoiled anyway from the early screenings. lol

Don't get me wrong. I LOVED his reveal in the 2nd trailer. I'm just saying.

 

[WilliamK99]

Ironically, since Spidey isn't in any advertising or marketing, I'm almost wondering if it would have been better to keep him a secret altogether. Think about it. If there were toys and shirts and all this marketing material planned with Spidey included like say...Wonder Woman in BvS then yes, it makes total sense to show him off in the trailer. But if he's going to be absent completely from marketing....maybe it would've been wise to conceal him altogether so that people have a total "OH ****!!!!!" moment when they see the movie. Then again....I guess it would've been spoiled anyway from the early screenings. lol

Don't get me wrong. I LOVED his reveal in the 2nd trailer. I'm just saying.

The "Oh ****" moment will be his fight scenes. Marvel just put him out there to tease the fans and ensure non hardcore fans realize Spider-man will be in the movie. Many casual movie goers had no clue Spidey was in this one until he popped up in the trailer...

 

[TheVileOne]

He's in the second trailer, so technically he's in there.

 

[ernesth100]

Theres actually a Civil War toy commercial with Spider-Man mask..so hes in marketing too.

 

[JtheDreamer]

Spider-Man isn't in any of the advertising for this movie at all. Why? My theory is that for some reason the deal Marvel and Sony came up with doesn't allow for Marvel to use Spider-Man to promote their movies as Sony gets no money from them.

Why does it even matter? But the reality is, he was in Trailer #2.

 

[MbJ]

Theres actually a Civil War toy commercial with Spider-Man mask..so hes in marketing too.

As far as I know, it's just the one commercial (which as discussed in the merch thread is just Ultimate Spider-Man gear anyway). That's not really much of a presence in the marketing.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Because Peter Parker chose journalism. But I suppose he could take stock photos and sell them to advertising agencies.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

He was in second trailer. But I think it mainly because he have a small role.

 

[JOE]

The thread should say advertising/merchandise. Kinda ticked about that too... I want a POP Vinyl of Civil War Spider-Man!

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Because Peter Parker chose journalism. But I suppose he could take stock photos and sell them to advertising agencies.

 

[MbJ]

The thread should say advertising/merchandise. Kinda ticked about that too... I want a POP Vinyl of Civil War Spider-Man!

I've explained in the merchandising thread in detail why there's no Spider-Man toys yet.

Several times, in fact.

 

[JOE]

I've explained in the merchandising thread in detail why there's no Spider-Man toys yet.

Several times, in fact.

That's great, I read your posts. Spider-Man's costume has also been designed for about a year now give or take a few months. Shouldn't be taking THIS long, but neither of us are working in that department, so neither of us really know.

 

[MbJ]

Shouldn't be taking THIS long

Actually, yes. When you factor in how long it takes to design a figure plus the fact that the companies also have other already scheduled products that need to be solicited and shipped, it's not really anything new.

Heck they showed off a Scarlet Witch toy at Toy Fair that won't be out until after the movie is in theaters. As will a number of the Hot Toys and Figuarts (Ant-Man isn't out until July, Black Panther isn't out until November). Some toy companies are just now releasing toys for certain characters from Age of Ultron, which was a year ago. We know there is a Spider-Man Funko coming but it's gonna be AFTER the current wave.

The rest of the toy lines will most likely be following this pattern.

 

[Quasimod0]

There is a pop vinyl Spidey coming out in the civil war wave 2

 

[third3ye]

Spider-Man's costume has also been designed for about a year now give or take a few months. Shouldn't be taking THIS long, but neither of us are working in that department, so neither of us really know.

Toys and most other hardline products for mass typically take 12-18 months from start to finish, starting from product concept through arriving on the shelves, it's a very lengthy turnaround time. From what I can deduce, Spidey has been kept under wraps from merchandisers for presumably leak prevention reasons. Though Spidey's inclusion in CW was a poorly kept secret, the decision was made to keep his physical appearance a closely guarded secret, for whatever reason. If any CW Spidey product get released, it probably won't be until summer at the earliest, and you'll see apparel come out first before toys because they're much faster to turn around. Funko typically has much faster turnaround times for their POP figures (smaller batches, variants on existing body templates) so they'll probably be one of the first to market among toys.

 

[danoyse]

He's not in the movie long enough to feature him prominently in the advertising.

That being said, his appearance is awesome, but what we got in the trailer was really enough without spoiling the rest of his scenes.