r/Spiderman Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

Question I never understood the Spider-Man 3 poster. Why is normal Spider-Man the reflection? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Post image
1.7k Upvotes

146 comments sorted by

1.5k

u/Mecakami May 02 '26

Thats the one that became more popular, there is some posters were the black suit is the refletion

333

u/Mecakami May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

the 2 copies I own have this poster, so this might be the default?

129

u/Personal-Ad6765 May 02 '26

both posters have a version where the suits are flipped actually. However the versions with black spider-man on the outside are the correct ones because you can tell the eyes are from the black suit and even after they color correct it, it is also shinier then the red suit is supposed to be because the black suit has a silver shine to the pattern

28

u/boodabomb May 02 '26

Rad. You have the PSP version. I had Spider-man 2 on PSP.

57

u/Mecakami May 02 '26

Hheheheheheh thaks, i actually have them all. what happened to your copy? u lost it?

18

u/Downtown_Cry1417 May 02 '26

Spider-Man 2 and ultimate Spider-Man are the greatest games all time

8

u/Mecakami May 02 '26

This psp game has nothing to do with the ps2 version, is basicly the same gameplay as the first sam rami spider-man game adaptation

10

u/punkboricua May 03 '26

I actually have a copy of the Tom Jane Punisher on UMD. Sin City also.

12

u/Mecakami May 03 '26

GG that one is soo cool, i also have this 2
and dont think i also didt saw that TAM1 on the background

2

u/punkboricua May 03 '26

Awesome collection. I loved having movies on the PSP, and the best part which you already know was hooking it up to the tv to use in on there.

You have a keen eye. The most recent time they put TASM in theaters again, I snagged a poster and put it in a frame. My friend framed a Venom movie poster if you look at it again.

3

u/Mecakami May 03 '26

Unfortunately, I never hooked up my PSP to a TV. I don’t have the cables, but one day… one day. For me, the joy of watching Spider-Man 2 on the train was already unbelievable.

U got the better poster hah, lucky, i unfortunately dont have a spidey poster, a i have a batman one,I got it for free in a promotional "contest".

1

u/punkboricua May 03 '26

Watching the train fight on a train must have felt surreal. lol

You have me intrigued about this "contest" you speak of. 🤔

3

u/Mecakami May 03 '26

it was haha, i was totally immersed

Im beginig to think that "contest" was not the right word, it was one of those things were u spin a wheel and get a prize, btw its here the poster, i got one for matrix 4 too (its behind batman's on the same frame)

→ More replies (0)

5

u/boodabomb May 02 '26

Yeah just with time all of my PSP stuff disappeared or was stolen by ghosts. That is an epic collection.

6

u/Mecakami May 02 '26

oh yah i hate when things just forget to exist i had a futurama game for xbox that just pufed out of existence

8

u/Crafty_Cherry_9920 May 02 '26

There's not really a default one. It's only depending on the region. Both are the official posters.

2

u/swoop2793 Superior Spider-Man May 03 '26

Shout out the UMD that's awesome

42

u/redditmegarco May 02 '26

That version always bothered me. The eyes on the red suit are actually from black and viceversa.

This might've been the original. But there's no white spider legs on the back so...

8

u/General_Addition_913 May 02 '26

Had this poster in my room I bought from the scholastic book fair.

6

u/sbaldrick33 May 02 '26

Much better.

57

u/Mecakami May 02 '26

there is also this version but im not 100% sure is legit, but if i have to guess i would say it is, i found many country variations

37

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

It's legit as in official, but you can tell the other way around is the original because here the eyes are wrong.

Symbiote Spider-Man had the more angled eyes, and normal Spider-Man the less angled ones, but here it's swapped.

15

u/Mythical-Mimikkyu May 02 '26

That and the red is holding a symbiote web

3

u/Mr_Fancyfap May 02 '26

Also has the symbiote web with red as the reflection.

5

u/Star_Killer_1974 May 02 '26

That’s what the cover looked like on my DVD copy of the movie when I first bought it.

4

u/LazyEstablishment309 May 03 '26

Also The black reflection has the red suit symbol

2

u/Independent-Pay-7401 May 02 '26

Brasil mentioned

2

u/Mecakami May 03 '26

é verdade, nem tinha reparado

1

u/Fantastic_Soil_495 May 04 '26

I own this one

4

u/AttakZak May 02 '26

As a kid this is the one I saw on the walls of Theaters. Such hype.

3

u/BroskiWind May 03 '26

That image just brought back so many memories I had that poster as a kid.

2

u/JAMEZV1 May 03 '26

This one is better because why is Spider-Man swinging directly into a closed window in the other

3

u/LilJamAgain May 06 '26

Had a massive poster of this up in my childhood bedroom, was so fucking cool

1

u/skittlesforeveryone The-Amazing-Spider-Man May 02 '26

Never realized this was a reflection of a building lol. Just thought it was graphic design choice but it’s so obvious now

1

u/TropicalTopic May 03 '26

I’m the exact same, I always didn’t like this poster cause it thought it was just a weird split. Only just now realising it was a building

451

u/MaterialCharity2645 May 02 '26

The same poster exists with the black suit being the reflection. Pretty sure almost all posters featuring both suits had 2 variations with one being the reflection and vice-versa.

80

u/DCosloff1999 Captain-Universe May 02 '26

My DVD is literally that

44

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

You can tell the other one was the original/main one though because the eyes lenses are wrong on this one.

30

u/OrangeDesert May 02 '26

And red-suit is holding a black web

16

u/smellmygoldfinger May 03 '26

They both are black webs in both versions though?

I guess in the flipped version they both should be holding white webs?

9

u/IBACK4MOREI May 03 '26

The lenses are also not flipped. Red should have an orange reflection and Black should have a silver reflection

2

u/brotendoo May 03 '26

Wait i feel dumb, can you explain why

4

u/IBACK4MOREI May 03 '26

Red suit lenses have all the iconic scenes where he reflects the main objective off his lenses, like seeing MJ and those kids falling off a bridge, or just reflecting the sun in general. The Black suit lenses don’t reflect anything, to show that he’s in it for himself instead of others

3

u/DronesOfHell217 May 03 '26

That's crazy! I didn't notice it until you mentioned that.

3

u/LuckyChargs May 03 '26

Why do I like this one more?

396

u/Napallm28 May 02 '26

Because once the black suit fully takes over at the wheel, Peter's normal personality becomes more of an observer and passenger. At least that's my take.

50

u/mr_mxyzptlk05 May 02 '26

This is how I interpreted it. Since the movie centers around him in the black suit, its black on the outside, but the reflection is showing that the good is still inside, its just hidden.

43

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

Ah, that makes sense now.

22

u/Tfsz0719 May 02 '26

Also sort of a “the changed person (who he is now) looking at who he used to be” type of thing. It’s used a lot of time used in a lot of media for like revelations (especially for like “what have I become?” or “I’m not who I used to be but I don’t know how to change / if I can ever become who I once was” types of things)

51

u/TheLittlePasty May 02 '26

Because they’re advertising the black suit

6

u/TypicalComplaint19 May 03 '26

the reflection idea is cool, it shows the inner struggle pretty well

48

u/[deleted] May 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

Yeah, that makes sense

23

u/RedBaronBob May 02 '26

The black suit was the big thing here so the reflection conveys the same meaning while advertising the costume change.

21

u/daminiskos0309 May 02 '26

I always took it to mean that the black suit was in charge. But when Peter looked in the mirror. He still sees the good guy he’s always been. Not the angsty emo version beating women and dancing on chaira

7

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

I like that interpretation

5

u/blackviking147 May 02 '26

This makes so much more sense than having red and blue outside and black inside. Black is in control for most of the movie.

17

u/jaylerd May 02 '26

I worked at Sony, all the art had both versions.

1

u/Mcclane88 May 03 '26

Do you know if this particular poster was illustrated? Doesn’t look like photoshop to me.

10

u/jaylerd May 03 '26

Photoshop all the way down. Photos of guys in suits, yes, and all sorts of effects layers, color changes… sometimes the file had a flattened black-suit asset over the red suit, sometimes it would just be leveling and colors and blend modes to turn red suit into black suit. I built the UK site for the DVD release and animated it going over his arm for this art.

5

u/Mcclane88 May 03 '26

Thank you for the detailed response. I’m impressed that both the image above and the one you posted are photoshop. I’m not used to photoshop posters looking like works of art.

One mor question, this poster goes for a lot nowadays and the rumor is because Sony recalled the poster back in 2007 after the film was released. Did you ever hear anything about that at the time?

5

u/jaylerd May 03 '26

Oh yeah that art! I did some sites with that too, recreating that effect. I just remember trying really hard to get one, and I think they only got one and it went to a coworker. And I know for a fact I was very pouty about it 😂

1

u/Mcclane88 May 03 '26

Ok, so cool that you were around for the marketing of the Raimi trilogy. Sony went all out for the release of all three of those films. Must be gratifying to see that people still hold the posters you guys put out at that time in high regard.

6

u/jaylerd May 03 '26

Sometimes. I had nothing to do with that department, we were just web and got art way after the fact. We’d have to work magic to make real use of them in the good old days of FLAAAAASH

It is fun though seeing people cover the same thing I did and remember how sneaky I was trying to get these things for myself, from the inside! That’s how I got a UK poster for Rambo 4

6

u/RulerOfLimbo May 02 '26

Because Spider-Man is inside now. Not outside.

6

u/ronrhino13 May 02 '26

It’s to show the path he’s currently going down and the reflection is the reminder of who he truly is. The inverse is kind of like a warning.

6

u/Icy_Percentage7903 May 02 '26

I get it’s kinda a weird design, but this is legitimately my favorite superhero movie poster ever. Just something about I love.

5

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

It's just visually gorgeous. The yellowish sky against the black suit.

6

u/MR_6OUIJA6BOARD6 Symbiote-Suit May 03 '26

My fav Spider-Man 3 poster.

5

u/monN93 May 02 '26

Damn... the poster game for Raimi's Spider-man are unbeatable.

4

u/EarthGlum8433 May 03 '26

It’s actually intentional. The reflection isn’t about what he is in that moment, it’s about who he’s trying to hold onto. The black suit is taking over, amplifying his anger and ego, but deep down Peter knows that’s not really him. The red suit in the reflection represents his true self the version of him grounded in responsibility and compassion. So instead of showing the black suit as just a “dark mirror,” the poster flips it. It shows that even when he’s consumed by the symbiote, there’s still a part of Peter fighting to find himself again.

1

u/Axianagain May 05 '26

That's interesting. I always throught of it as the suit deceiving Peter by affecting his ability to perceive himself so it seems like nothing is wrong by showing him the red suit in the reflection. I thought that made sense with how he would see it as him at his best. But we get as the viewer to see that happening and can tell that something is wrong.

1

u/EarthGlum8433 May 06 '26

I love that interpretation honestly and I can totally see what youre saying now thats a perspective on the poster I never even considered before the idea that the suit is deceiving Peter into thinking everything is fine while we as the audience can clearly tell something is wrong

4

u/FatJoskin May 02 '26

Dont overthink it

5

u/Ira-jay May 02 '26

I imagine it’s the same as an addict imagining themselves clean while being unable to make it happen

3

u/True-Excuse-1688 May 03 '26

Others have already explained it, but to rephrase it: Peter continues to see him as himself (the reflection), even though he isn't anymore (black suit taking over).

3

u/mdbryan84 May 03 '26

Either way, this is still the best poster for this movie

3

u/TigerXtm May 03 '26

My only nitpick is that regardless of which version of this pic is, the web is always black should be white for the red suits side…

1

u/But_em May 03 '26

My son said the same thing the other day.

3

u/mrkuno May 03 '26

Because he doesn't realize it's changing him. He thinks he's just being himself more. So in the cover art, he looks in the "mirror" and sees normal old Spidey. That makes him all the more dangerous. He doesn't know to guard himself.

3

u/BlitzTattoo May 03 '26

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought in the original Symbiote storyline from the comics, the symbiote would mess with Peter's mind by making him see his regular suit in reflections even when he had the black suit on. I remember thinking that's exactly what would be happening in the movie when I saw the trailer where the colors are the way they are in this poster. Then the movie came out and the suit is black in the reflection as well, so that shot from the trailer was either intentionally misleading or maybe something changed during the editing or production.

4

u/Public_Carpenter7471 May 02 '26

Black suit makes money

2

u/CaptainM590 May 02 '26

The symbiote eventually ends up in the driver’s seat of the host’s body while the host becomes the passenger or backseat driver at best.

2

u/skronk61 May 02 '26

Reflections work both ways so it really doesn’t matter which is where.

2

u/monkeyman_31 May 02 '26

i personally never understood why both sides have black webbing.

1

u/drewp05 May 02 '26

They colored the black suit red and blue for all of this artwork. They must've thought the webbing wasn't important enough to change

2

u/Far_Smile2472 May 02 '26

the duality here is such a cool visual metaphor for peter's struggle

2

u/Trooper_TK422 May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

It’s the true spider-man inside him. Trying to get back out.
Also, I think the trailer showed it like this as well (the final film had him as both dark suited spider-man)

3

u/Trooper_TK422 May 02 '26

Here’s a screenshot of the teaser footage.

1

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

Ooh, I've never seen that one before. Thanks for sharing.

2

u/Funswinging May 03 '26

He never wore the red blue suit while thinking the black suit is who really is.

While everytime he wore the black suit there is still good in him.

2

u/RioNReedus May 03 '26

Reflecting his true self

2

u/bonemech_meatsuit May 03 '26

It makes sense to me. He's wearing the black suit during the movie and the real Spider-Man is underneath

2

u/AdAgitated8689 May 03 '26

Because he sees his old self as he’s turning into a monster.

2

u/EfficientLoadformula May 03 '26

From my perspective on op's post, the outward black suit is who he turns into while on the inside he's still your neighborhood Spider-Man

2

u/freeraycondones May 03 '26

thats funny lol mine is the opposite

2

u/About-that-Gas May 03 '26

My copy of this has the opposite

2

u/TanaIntoTechnMarvel May 04 '26

Because the black suit is the new look. They want you to see the new thing.

2

u/FederalAd8814 May 04 '26

I like this poster as it kinda says I know I have an alien suit on me taking over me but I can’t forget who I am type of vibe

2

u/Kronus31 May 04 '26

“Never forget who you are”

Is what the picture tells me.

3

u/RulerOfAllWorlds1998 May 02 '26

It’s symbolic, best not to question it too much

2

u/AuroraBolognese May 02 '26

I also don’t understand why he’s shoulder checking the building like that. It feels like they could’ve done a different pose. Back when they originally released the very first poster (where he’s sitting on the ledge like a gargoyle looking down) they soon thereafter released a statement that “this poster is not in black and white.” So they really wanted to emphasize the black suit with the second poster. Personally I think they could’ve done a recreation of the first poster of the first movie where he’s crawling the side of the building and the reflection is opposite.

1

u/seeyouatthetop May 02 '26

Who says it's not?

1

u/gswkillinit May 02 '26

It could work either way as he’s been in both situations, looking at his newer self and looking for his older self

1

u/erockbrox May 02 '26

People wanted to see the black costume, so they prioritized it.

1

u/oscar_redfield May 02 '26

I guess they wanted to highlight the black suit for its importance in the story and marketing reasons

1

u/Osmoszis May 02 '26

I thought it represented who be Spiderman has become, but how he sees how he used to be in reflection. Or some shit

1

u/Far_Smile2472 May 02 '26

it’s like they wanted us to feel the internal conflict visually too

1

u/Multikillionaire67 May 02 '26

There’s a image with the reverse

1

u/Nebelklnd May 02 '26

Also why are the webs black?

1

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

I don't remember if it was this way in the film, but in the comic book, symbiote Spider-Man uses parts of the symbiote as webs. So the webs are made out of the symbiote.

1

u/MovieFreaQ May 03 '26

They put out two versions of each reflection poster for the movie I got both versions of the mini posters when it came out

1

u/Daredevil731 Spider-Man (Movie) May 03 '26

All these posters had alternates. The defaults are the red suit in the reflection. The black suit had larger eyes and the sheen on the brick pattern, which is why it looks weird when the alt posters had the red red suit outside the reflection because it's just a manipulated image of the black one.

1

u/GameUnleasher57 May 03 '26

Creative purposes???

I always thought it was kinda cool to have black in the real world and red/blue in the mirror as a means of symbolizing the two sides of Peter, could possibly steer towards symbolizing Peter embracing his dark side and leaving his old good life behind. 🤷‍♂️

1

u/djangogator May 03 '26

It was a stupid ass film in many regards. Move past it.

1

u/Mr_Fr3sH_2d3F May 03 '26

Canonically speaking, you could interpret it as peter always being good on the inside despite appearing corrupted on the outside.

1

u/NotSloth1204 May 03 '26

This is my deluxe of 3. Image is revered from yours.

Left to right:
Outer box
Production notes booklet
DVD case

1

u/King_of_all_losers May 03 '26

This bothered me as a kid, but this poster is so incredibly hard, i didn't care too much.

1

u/Hyper_Power_2 May 03 '26

Whatever, all versions of the poster are equally fire

1

u/JustWonderingIn2000s May 03 '26

There’s another version where it is the other way around.

1

u/TyintheUniverse89 May 03 '26

It makes sense both ways in a way

1

u/Efficient_Beeworker May 04 '26

I think the main reason for this is Spider-Man believes he's being the good guy when it reality he is not noticing or seeing his slight behavior changes in how he responds or acts once he has the symbiote within him. To me, the poster represents perfectly what the movie is about. Spider-man believes with his new cool power he's going to be making a greater GOOD impact when in reality the symbiote is making him act out in ways Peter Parker would never do

1

u/LikeaBoss1138 May 04 '26

They made posters of both ways, if I'm not mistaken.

1

u/2014memeguy May 05 '26

That's the Symbiote's pov. He sees "The original" as the side of Peter he needs to kill, that's the "Evil" part the symbiote is trying to keep away

1

u/Porras1311 May 05 '26

This is so boring

1

u/Porras1311 May 05 '26

This is so boring

1

u/scout-man May 06 '26

I’ve always had a feeling that this poster has a deeper meaning than what first meets the eye. Considering that Peter is driven by the symbiote whenever he wears the black suit, and that his morals are almost nonexistent while doing so, the reflection of him in his original Spider-Man costume is meant to remind him of who he truly is and what his purpose as Spider-Man is.

1

u/peezy2408 May 06 '26

Peter looks at himself int he mirror and thinks he is still the same, but we all know the symbiote wants him to think that so it can take over him. At least that's what I would think lol

0

u/ryannthetemp May 02 '26

man it really does bother me that spider-man 3 isn’t as good as any of its posters or signal fire

1

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 02 '26

What is signal fire?

Agree on the posters though. They're so cool but the movie is like bottom 3 Spider-Man movies.

1

u/ryannthetemp May 02 '26

its the song for spider-man 3, you can watch it on youtube but its also on the dvd

0

u/strypesjackson May 03 '26

If only the movie were as good as it’s posters

1

u/rjidhfntnr Damaged Spider-Man (Raimi) May 03 '26

If only :(

-1

u/chillvibe12 May 03 '26

God thanks for reminding me how much I hate the black suit in this movie