What is Spider-Man doing in Google Maps?
Google Maps is showing Spider-Man in staged Street View action scenes across New York City. As our colleagues at PCMag Middle East report, the unusual sightings are part of a promotion for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Google first teased the campaign through its official Google Maps account on X, posting an image of a building in Long Island City, Queens, alongside the message: “Our Street View sense is tingling, but let’s not spoil the fun yet.” Street View imagery near the building subsequently revealed Spider-Man outside a deli and grocery store.
The campaign places the character inside the panoramic imagery normally used to explore real locations. Spider-Man can be seen confronting The Hand, described as a ninja-like group and an antagonist in the upcoming film. It is movie marketing delivered through mapping software, because apparently even superheroes now need a location pin.
Where can you find the Spider-Man Street View scenes?
Google says it has hidden five custom Spider-Man moments in Street View across New York City. Three reported locations are Long Island City in Queens, Washington Square Park, and Madison Avenue.
The company confirmed that the appearances were deliberate after users began sharing discoveries on social media. Google then encouraged fans to use their “Spidey senses” to locate the remaining scenes, turning an advertising campaign into a compact digital treasure hunt.
A dedicated site called spideytracker.com has also been built using Google Maps. It forms part of the wider Spider-Man: Brand New Day promotion and helps fans track the character’s appearances around the city.
The exact scenes work because Street View usually looks reassuringly ordinary: roads, buildings, pedestrians, and the occasional unfortunate camera angle. Dropping Spider-Man and a group of ninjas into that visual language creates the pleasing impression that Google’s camera car accidentally drove through an action sequence.
Is this the first Street View entertainment campaign?
Google has used Street View for promotional campaigns before. PCMag Middle East notes that a similar concept was used earlier in the year for a Paul McCartney album campaign.
The Spider-Man collaboration pushes the same idea towards a game-like experience. Google says the five moments were staged and captured as though the Street View car had happened upon Spider-Man in action, blending fictional scenes with the familiar look of panoramic street photography.
New York City is also a natural setting because it is Spider-Man’s home city in the comics and previous films. The campaign does not need to explain why he is there; it only needs viewers to accept that a mapping car had spectacular timing.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is listed as opening on Friday, July 31. Until then, the Street View hunt offers fans an official, spoiler-light glimpse of Spider-Man and The Hand while proving that a film tie-in can be fun when it gives people something to discover.
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