Marvel and Sony’sSpider-Man: Homecomingdebuted in the U.S. and most of its international markets last weekend, although a newspaper in one international territory is coming under fire for using a parody poster to promote the film. A Reddit user noticed that the Nepalese newspaper The Himalayan Times used aSpider-Man: Homecoming parodyposter, which featured a now-infamous photo of U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulazizin, along with DC superhero Batman and actor Pauly Shore, in a section of the newspaper that features movies which are currently playing. The poster was created by artist Mike Mitchell, which he posted on Twitter back in May.
This embarrassing gaffe was first spotted by a Reddit user named “Q-Q_Reddit,” which eventually got the attention of Mike Mitchell, who posted that The Himalayan Times had used his artwork. The electronic version of The Himalayan Times newspaper from that date, July 7, the opening day in Nepal and most countries around the world for this hitSpider-Man movie, still shows the parody poster is in place, next to a poster for the Nepalese filmDhanapatiand the Indian filmGuest In London.
This isn’t the first time a parody poster has caused some controversy for a Marvel movie. Back in 2013, a Shanghai movie theater used a parody poster forThor: The Dark Worldas a standee, which featured brothers Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) locked in a tender embrace. Still, that was just one theater, and not a national newspaper, so it will be interesting to see when and if this error will be corrected. Mike Mitchell also created a number of other variations of this poster, with another version featuringSpideyholding a can of Pepsi, while Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark has been given an intricate facial tattoo similar to Mike Tyson’s with the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and King Kong seek lurking in the background.
Other variations of this parody poster feature a crying Tobey Maguire, the “Toasty” character from theMortal Kombatvideo games and a random puppy thrown into the mix. It’s unclear if this bizarre poster had any impact on the Nepalese box office figures forSpider-Man: Homecoming, since that territory’s numbers haven’t come in yet, but this new version ofPeter Parker, has proven to be popular around the world. Along with the $117 million domestic take,Spider-Man: Homecominghas earned an additional $139.5 million for a worldwide tally of $256.5 million after one weekend, from a $175 million budget.
The inclusion of Batman on this poster is quite humorous for another reason as well. Last week,Tom Hollandappeared on MTV After Hours, where he revealed an “exclusive” first look at his secret audition tapes, where he was seen trying out to play Batman. Not to mention that Michael Keaton, who plays villain Vulture inHomecoming, also revived Batman back in the 80s. Sony and Marvel have already confirmed thatSpider-Man: Homecoming 2will hit theaters on June 30, 2025, with a third installment also confirmed recently by Tom Holland. While we wait for details on these sequels, and on the impressive box office performance ofSpider-Man: Homecoming, take a look at The Himalayan Times page with the parody poster, along with Mike Mitchell’s full posters below.
