Lionel Messi and Tom Holland Team Up in a Viral ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Promo
Lionel Messi has spent decades proving he’s a superhero on the soccer pitch, but this summer he took things a step further by teaming up with an actual Marvel hero on screen. The Inter Miami and Argentina captain crossed over into Hollywood territory through a promotional collaboration with Sony Pictures ahead of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s’ theatrical release.
That partnership arrived at a particularly fitting moment, with Messi leading Argentina through the knockout stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the time the promo dropped. Sony leaned directly into that timing, using the tournament’s massive global audience to help build buzz for Tom Holland’s fourth solo outing as Peter Parker.
The 40-second clip opens inside a neighborhood coffee shop, where Messi unexpectedly crosses paths with Holland’s Peter Parker. Using a tracking app on his phone modeled after the comic-accurate “Spidey Tracker,” Messi reveals he’s joined the citywide hunt for Spider-Man himself, catching a visibly starstruck Parker completely off guard before the young hero slips away to change.
Moments later, Spider-Man swings into full action, with Messi along for the ride as the two head off together for a fast-paced tour through the city skyline. The soccer icon plays a heightened, comedic version of himself throughout the clip, screaming while being swung through the air, a moment fans have singled out as the highlight of the entire promo.
Messi’s association with Spider-Man wasn’t invented purely for marketing purposes. The soccer legend has a well-documented history of nodding to the superhero during on-field goal celebrations, giving the crossover a layer of authenticity that resonated with fans watching the ad circulate online.
Holland, for his part, has stayed visibly engaged with football throughout the film’s promotional run, even traveling to Madrid during the World Cup to discuss both his movie and his love of the sport. During that trip, he specifically praised Barcelona star Lamine Yamal, calling him a perfect fit for Spider-Man given his agility and speed on the field.
Following the clip’s release, Holland took to social media asking fans “Who’s got next?”, a simple prompt that quickly sparked speculation about which other high-profile figures might appear in future promotional content for the film. Some viewers also picked up on multiple tracking signals shown within the ad, fueling theories about whether the detail hinted at additional Marvel characters or multiverse storylines tied to the film.
While Messi’s appearance was designed purely as marketing, the buzz it generated led some fans to wonder whether he might make an actual blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo somewhere within the finished film itself. Reaction to the crossover skewed overwhelmingly positive, adding another viral moment to a promotional campaign that had already broken records, including the fastest movie trailer ever to surpass one billion views.
With ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ continuing its record-breaking theatrical run, moments like the Messi promo highlight just how far Sony was willing to go to make sure the film’s marketing reached far beyond typical superhero movie audiences.
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