Marvel copies and pastes Green Goblin onto another lackluster Spider-Man poster

Marvel has a long history of being accused of phoning it in when it comes to Spider-Man posters. Since Marvel and Sony worked out the tangled web of Spider-Man’s licensing agreement (Marvel’s The Tangled Web Of Spider-Man’s Licensing Agreement should be a Disney+ series), Disney’s posters for the webhead’s theatrical efforts have been a dependable source of memes, photoshops, and mockery. And the poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home is in no way an exception.

The latest one-sheet features your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Stephen (Benedict Cumberbatch) standing back to back and squaring off against Doctor Octopus’ Spider-Man 2-era tentacles.

And what’s that at the poster’s two o’clock? Why it’s the same Green Goblin from the last Spider-Man: No Way Home poster. As if to prove that they didn’t lose too much sleep over the film’s marketing, it’s in the same spot and appears to be the same image, too, like they ctrl-C’d the Photoshop layer in the old poster and ctrl-V’d into the new one.

It’s not like every Spider-Man poster needs to be the friggin’ Mona Lisa—but we wouldn’t say no to a timeless masterpiece that would sustain its place in culture for, like, 600 years being used to shill yet another Marvel movie. Still, for Disney, which is basically the only movie studio now, it would be nice if there was some attempt at attracting us with the eighth Spider-Man picture.

Instead, we get another lackluster poster for, arguably, Marvel’s most beloved and dynamic character. It’s cynical to admit, but they know they don’t have to do much to sell a ticket; it’s Marvel, it’s Spider-Man, and look Green Goblin’s back, enjoy.

Marvel got caught slipping earlier this month with Eternals, an ambitious attempt at modern mythmaking that failed to capture critics, who, despite all the hand-wringing from fans, still, by and large, give Marvel movies pretty good reviews. The biggest, most profitable studio in existence should at least have to work for our hard-earned money. This ain’t it.

Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Alfred Molina—and Willem Dafoe, we guess. The film swings into theaters on December 17.