Year of Spider-Man (found informational short film; 2000)

Title from the short film.

Status: Found

Date found: 12 Oct 2024

Found by: Fudgebudger

In 2000, commercial production company and advertising boutique Big Chair Productions was commissioned by Marvel Entertainment to create a 5 minute short film titled "Year of Spider-Man" meant for presenting to investors in anticipation of the then-upcoming first film from Sony Pictures.

Background

After decades in development and being tossed around to many different studios, Sony Pictures bought the film and TV rights to Spider-Man in 1999. Afterwards, development on the Spider-Man movie sped along with an estimated release in 2001; it would eventually be released on May 3, 2002.

Year of Spider-Man was created due to Sony's live-action Spider-Man film being in early pre-production at the time in 2000 and as a way for Marvel Entertainment to drum up excitement for their flagship character's impending big screen debut amongst their investors.^[1]

Directed by Rob Cohn, the short uses a combination of original live-action footage mixed with still images, graphics, and animation.^[2] It also shows a montage of atmospheric scenes depicting Spider-Man stylishly using his powers, as well as glimpses into how he got his powers.

Availability

The short was screened privately in a special custom-built surround sound theater and won Telly and Monitor awards. It was never shown to the public and all that currently is available from it are a handful of archived still frames.

On October 12, 2024, a user known as Fudgebudger uploaded the full film to YouTube.