Spider-Man is arguably the world’s most recognizable superhero, and certainly one of the most relatable for a larger majority of his audience. Peter Parker’s history is a largely common knowledge, meaning that the studios can afford to be minimally selective with what they include; it’s only necessary to retread any ground that could prove unavoidable in the Civil War storyline. To avoid plugging any screen time from Cap’s new film into introducing Pete, a Dent-esque viral campaign could be perfect for Marvel.
Recently, we brought you news of the latest pre-release footage for Marvel’s upcoming Ant Man, which includes a broadcast from WHIH news detailing an impending prison release for cyber terrorist Scott Lang. The footage uses broadcaster Christine Everhart who, it should be noted, has been called back for filming with Civil War and links viewers to a new Twitter feed for the news channel. This small viral campaign has been introduced pretty late on in the marketing for Ant Man, but is nonetheless serving an important purpose in linking the characters and events from the movie to the larger MCU. The channel’s Twitter feed is already populated with some Avengers-related stories.
With Peter Parker’s known photography background, it’s the perfect natural foil for this to extend into the build-up for Civil War in 2016. For example; assuming the accident that gave Parker his powers is going to be accepted as a given, why not have Everhart and her team lead the call for pictures or footage of the mysterious masked man recently sighted swinging around New York? Spidey’s early activities could gather press attention in an early viral campaign, which makes his appearance on the radar of Cap and Iron Man feel more organic by the time the events of Civil War begin.
