Hollywood legend Drew Struzan painted an epic Marvel poster years before the MCU was born

Surprisingly, Drew Struzan never got the chance to create a poster for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the Hollywood legend painted the heroes and villains of the MCU for a special poster that was handed out at San Diego Comic Con in 2003 – five years before the inaugural MCU film, “Iron Man” debuted and changed Hollywood forever.

Just as movies seem more generic and less exciting today than in the past, so do movie posters, which once boasted the talents of the great Drew Struzan. The legendary artist, who died on October 13, 2025 at the age of 78, was responsible for capturing the magic of cinema like no other. His hand-created illustrations express an almost child-like wonder and respect for the subject, reflecting the awe we all felt while watching the great blockbusters of the late 20th century.

As such, Struzan was truly the greatest to ever do it, and his undoing seems to be something bigger than it seems – as if the era of cinematic magic was fading with this titan of industry. With that in mind, the fact that we never got to see his take on a Marvel Cinematic Universe poster seems almost trivial. But the more you think about it, the more it seems like Struzan should have been given the chance to create a poster child for the most successful blockbuster franchise of all time. Unfortunately for Marvel Studios, Struzan announced his retirement in 2008, the same year that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark arrived and launched the MCU. Luckily, we have a good approximation of what an MCU poster from the artist might look like in the form of a panoramic poster featuring all the major Marvel heroes and villains that Struzan produced in 2003.

San Diego Comic Con 2003 attendees who were lucky enough to receive a special Drew Struzan poster surely didn’t know how lucky they were. The illustration, created using acrylic paint and colored pencils on a gesso board, featured Spider-Man surrounded by Marvel heavy hitters including Captain America, The Hulk, Wolverine, and, fittingly considering Robert Downey Jr.’s recent return to the MCU, Doctor Doom.

According to Struzan’s official website, the work was commissioned as a free poster, but was also designed to serve as a four-panel comic book cover. However, it does not appear that Marvel ever used it for this purpose, although the design was used as box art for the Marvel Origins trading card game and a 2007 Marvel Masterpieces set. In fact, although he created covers for DC, most notably with his depiction of Superman for “Action Comics” #800 (which also featured his self-portrait), Struzan only produced “Star” covers. Wars” for Marvel (although he also painted several covers for Image and IDW comics).

As such, his 2003 SDCC illustration is a rare example of the artist’s take on Marvel characters. Meanwhile, the MCU has produced posters that are very clearly inspired by Struzan’s work, most notably with his “Guardians of the Galaxy” posters that mimic the style of the space opera that also gave Struzan his big Hollywood break: “Star Wars.” But the “Avengers” movie posters are also clearly indebted to the late artist, with Marvel even opting for a more hand-drawn aesthetic on the “Avengers: Endgame” poster in particular. Alas, we’ll never see what a real Struzan MCU poster might look like.