Update: Read our SDCC Spider-Man Exhibit Interview With Professor Ben Saunders
Spider-Man is celebrating his 60th anniversary at the San Diego Comic-Con Museum where a new exhibition covering the wallcrawler’s entire history in comics, films, collectibles, and more has just opened. Showcasing Peter Parker’s various transmedia depictions, the new Beyond Amazing experience has something for every kind of Spider-Man fan, offering new insights that may surprise even the most diehard. After taking an exclusive tour on its opening day, Screen Rant can confirm Beyond Amazing is a dynamic and exciting experience made by Spider-Man fans for Spider-Man fans.
A fairly new addition to SDCC, the Comic-Con Museum opened in November of 2021 as a year-round experience. Located in Balboa Park, the museum is only a short drive away from the San Diego Convention Center and Hall H, where the biggest pop culture announcements are made annually (including Marvel, who’s returning to SDCC this year). The Comic-Con Museum is currently home to some of the rarest and most valuable Spider-Man comics, movie props, and collectibles curated by comic book scholars Benjamin Saunders and Patrick A. Reed in collaboration with StudioTK. Having opened on July 1st, the Comic-Con Museum’s Spider-Man exhibit will remain open until January 3rd.
Screen Rant was taken on a special tour through the exhibit which is laid out as an interactive timeline, covering every facet of Spider-Man’s 60-year tenure (including Marvel’s radioactive spider creature, who predated Peter Parker’s first appearance). Beginning with Spider-Man’s earliest comics – such as a rare copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #1 and an homage to the Webslinger’s first appearance in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15 – several original prints from Marvel legends such as Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., Ross Andru, Mark Bagley, and more are featured after being borrowed and donated from a variety of private collections (including some from the curators themselves).
There are several props and costumes on display as well from each of Sony’s Spider-Man film franchises, which all crossed over in December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Additionally, the entirety of the exhibit begins and ends around a large atrium space featuring animated murals of the iconic wallcrawler, along with statues of Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man himself looking like giant action figures, while epic music plays in the background.
It’s abundantly clear throughout the Spider-Man exhibition just how influential the hero has been on pop culture over the decades. The webslinger is one of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes, having made an impact not only in comics and film but also in television and video games – all of which have their representation at the Comic-Con Museum. Peter Parker is a universally beloved character who’s certainly elevated in popularity amongst his fellow Marvel heroes. He’s even beating Superman’s induction into Comic-Con’s Hall of Fame later this month on July 20th.
A large reason for that comes down to his genuine relatability as the “superhero with super problems“. This is something co-curator Ben Saunders understands with a passion:
We are talking now about a character who has been around for 60 years and who seems to have intergenerational appeal appeals across the gender gap, across racial divide, across even international divisions. A globally recognized icon. One of the few things that human beings seem to agree about is that they like Spider-Man. So what is that about? I think it comes down to two things if I really had to boil it down to just a couple of words. And they would be relatability and design…
So I think, yeah, the superhero with super problems was the headline back in the 60s, I think that’s the relatability piece. But then he’s just such a stunningly well designed concept, the costume doesn’t look like any prior superhero costume. The mask completely covers the face which actually helps with the relatability angle. He can be anybody under there. So you put those things together and the result is just tremendously charismatic.
All in all, Beyond Amazing truly lives up to the name. The Comic-Con Museum’s new exhibition is an incredible celebration of Spider-Man’s 60th anniversary and is definitely something fans of the Wallcrawler should experience before the SDCC exhibit closes at the beginning of January. Check out some of Screen Rant‘s exclusive photos from the brand new Spider-Man experience:
San Diego Comic-Con’s new Spider-Man exhibit Beyond Amazing is now open to the public until January 3rd. Spider-Man will be inducted into the Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame on July 20th. If you’re interested, please check out our other exclusive images and coverage from the SDCC Comic-Con Museum
- Photos: Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man Suit And Web-Shooters Now On Display
- Photos: Spider-Man Homecoming’s Original Suit and EDITH Glasses On Display
- Photos: Sam Raimi’s Doc Ock and Daily Bugle Props
- Spider-Man Exhibit interview with Professor Ben Saunders.
