Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was already a work of art—but now, it’s a work of art in a whole new way. Artist Scott Campbell has painted a stunning image featuring basically every single Spider character in the movie, in a single image, and io9 has the exclusive reveal and an amazing process video too.
The piece is part of the new art exhibit “Rise of the Great Showdowns,” which opens Friday, March 8 at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, CA. It’ll feature over 200 brand-new showdown paintings, many of which you can see on Campbell’s Instagram, all of which will be on display at the gallery through March 16. Click here for more info.
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As his first show since 2020 approached, Campbell knew he wanted to bring the latest Spider-Verse to life, especially as he’s a long-time fan of the character. “Spider-Man was the very first hero I became obsessed with at a young age,” he said. “I had Spider-Man coloring books, action figures, pajamas, underpants, records, darts, Spider boat, jacket, boots, kite, cup, basically Spider-Man all the time. My mom [even] made me a Spider-Man Halloween costume in first grade.” Here’s the proof.
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So, when Campbell saw Across the Spider-Verse, it was kind of like watching his wildest dreams come true. “My dream was to see a world with infinite Spider-Men just hanging out enjoying each other’s company, so when the time came for every single Spider-Man to chase Miles, I had never been so excited,” he said. “The chase to end all chases.”
Quickly, Campbell knew what moment he was going to capture for his upcoming art show but, unlike a more traditional image, this one required some additional digging. “I started by freeze-framing the chase scene to try to pick out all the Spider-people. That was just an insane task to try to figure them all out,” he said. “So I scoured the internet to read all the lists that people had made of all the Spider-Men. Luckily I had met the producer Chris Miller before and reached out to him about a possible list they may have made internally that could help, and he connected me with one of the directors, Justin K. Thompson. Sure enough, they had a comprehensive list of this very thing! It was a true lifesaver. All of those Spider people clearly laid out. I am very thankful to them.”
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And so, work began, and here’s how that went down in our io9 exclusive video.
Campbell loved painting all of the different characters on their own but said the hardest part was fitting it all together. “Composing the characters is always the hardest, but most fun part,” he said. “I love imagining them all together like this posing for the picture. I finished the drawing but struggled on whether or not to have the classic animated Spider-Man pointing. I eventually decided that he must be pointing, so I had to move everyone around to accommodate that pointing guy.” Which you can see here now, finally, in the finished image…
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Measuring 10.5 x 15.5 inches, the finished Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse painting, and 200 other Great Showdowns, will be on display and for sale from March 8-16 at the “Rise of the Great Showdowns” exhibition in LA. Prints of this particular piece are expected to be made available nearer to San Diego Comic-Con. Follow @scottlava on Instagram for more info on everything.
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Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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