Hollywood Legend Drew Struzan Painted An Epic Marvel Poster Years Before The MCU's Birth

Amazingly, Drew Struzan never got the chance to create a poster for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the Hollywood legend did paint the heroes and villains of the MCU for a special poster that was given away at San Diego Comic Con back in 2003 — five years before the inaugural MCU movie, "Iron Man" debuted and changed Hollywood forever.

Just as movies seem more generic and less exciting today than they once did, so too do movie posters, which once benefitted from the talents of the great Drew Struzan. The legendary artist, who passed away on October 13, 2025 at the age of 78, was responsible for capturing the magic of film like no other. His hand-created illustrations conveyed an almost childlike wonder and reverence for the subject matter, mirroring the awe we all felt watching the great blockbusters of the late 20th Century.

As such, Struzan really was the best to ever do it, and his loss feels like something bigger than it seems — as if the age of movie magic is fading along with this titan of the 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 as if Struzan should have been given a chance to create a poster for the most successful blockbuster franchise of all time. Unfortunately for Marvel Studios, Struzan announced his retirement in 2008, the very year that Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark arrived and kicked off the MCU. Thankfully, we have a close approximation of what an MCU poster from the artist might look like in the form of a panoramic poster featuring all the big Marvel heroes and villains that Struzan produced back in 2003.

Attendees at the 2003 San Diego Comic Con lucky enough to be given a special poster by Drew Struzan surely didn't know how fortunate they were. The illustration, created using acrylic paint & colored pencil on gessoed board, featured Spider-Man in surrounded by Marvel heavy-hitters, including Captain America, The Hulk, Wolverine, and appropriately given Robert Downey Jr.'s recent return to the MCU, Doctor Doom.

According to Struzan's official site, the work was commissioned as a give-away poster but was also designed to be a four-fold comic book cover. However, it doesn't look as though Marvel ever used it for that purpose, though the design was used as box art for the Marvel Origins trading card game booster set and a 2007 Marvel Masterpieces set. In fact, though he created covers for DC, most notably with his depiction of Superman for "Action Comics" #800 (which also featured his self-portrait), Struzan only ever produced "Star Wars" covers for Marvel (though 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 been producing posters that very clearly take their cues from Struzan's work, most notably with its "Guardians of the Galaxy" posters which mimic the style of the space opera which 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 poster for "Avengers: Endgame" in particular. Alas, we'll never see what an actual Struzan MCU poster might look like.