The combo popcorn and drink container for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” was meant to look like a web.
Movie theater merchandise has been escalating in ambition for years. Since the sandworm-shaped bucket for Dune: Part Two sent the internet into a frenzy in 2024, chains have leaned further into elaborate, conversation-starting designs that blur the line between collectible and prop. Cinemark’s latest entry for Spider-Man: Brand New Day has cleared that line entirely and kept going.
The promotional item, unveiled ahead of the film’s July 31 release, combines a popcorn bucket and a beverage container into a single design shaped like Spider-Man’s hand in the middle of shooting a web. The arm points upward, a large white burst of webbing extends outward from the wrist, the popcorn sits inside the webbing, and a straw is integrated into the design so the drink can be sipped simultaneously.
The concept is coherent on paper. Spider-Man shoots webs. The popcorn rests in the web. Everyone understands what it is trying to do. The execution is what sent the internet into middle-school-brain territory within hours of the reveal.
What people are saying
The reaction online has been immediate and largely focused on one observation that did not require much imagination to make. Commentary flooded social media platforms pointing out the less-than-subtle visual suggestion the design produces at first glance. Several users argued the provocative appearance seemed deliberate, citing a pattern they traced back to the Dune: Part Two bucket as the moment cinema chains discovered that suggestive merchandise generates significant free publicity.
Beyond the obvious jokes, practical criticism also emerged. The size of the webbed popcorn section drew skepticism about its actual capacity as a vessel for the amount of popcorn a person might reasonably want during a film. The price point associated with premium movie merchandise added another layer to that concern.
Some commenters expressed a preference for the alternative option. Rival chain Regal has its own merchandise for the film, a rectangular tin featuring Spider-Man clinging to the side of a building. That design, several people noted, successfully communicates the superhero theme without any interpretive confusion.
You haven’t truly lived the movie theater experience until you’ve drunken out of Spider-man’s organic splooge. 😳😳😳
Whoever approved this drink/popcorn combo bucket needs to be mentally evaluated. #spiderman #popcornbucket #inappropriate #ilikefilms #wtf pic.twitter.com/dkpAiCZYR7— Christopher G. Moore (@ILikeFilms) June 19, 2026
The broader trend
The Cinemark bucket arrives at a moment when promotional movie merchandise has become a genuine revenue and marketing category for theater chains. Elaborate popcorn containers have shifted from novelty items to anticipated releases, generating coverage and social media attention that functions as free promotion for both the theater and the film. Whether that attention is positive or not has become increasingly secondary to whether it generates conversation.
The pattern is consistent enough that observers have begun treating controversial bucket designs less as accidents and more as calculated choices. The design team knew what Spider-Man’s web shooter looked like. The approval process involved multiple people. The result sitting on Cinemark’s merchandising table ahead of one of the summer’s most anticipated releases has been seen by millions of people online, most of whom are now aware the film opens July 31.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day stars Tom Holland and Zendaya alongside Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Liza Colon-Zayas, and Marvin Jones III. The film follows Peter Parker settling into his role as New York’s resident superhero and opens in theaters nationwide on July 31.