In addition to wallcrawling, superhuman reflexes, strength and of course “spider-sense,” Spider-Man has another superpower: The ability to boost traffic at local comic-book-related businesses.
Since its Dec. 17 opening, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has earned more than $620,000,000 at the box office domestically. Obviously, that’s huge for cinemas, which were struggling during the home-streaming era even before the pandemic made the outlook even darker.
In Huntsville, Ala., a new Marvel blockbuster’s also a boon for small businesses like Supper Heroes, a superhero-themed restaurant. “We see quite a few people going to see the Spider-Man movie coming in,” says Supper Heroes co-owner Mark Woodard. “When (Marvel Studios) do a good movie, big blockbuster or a good series, it just puts (superheroes) back in everybody’s thoughts. And it starts being a part of the public zeitgeist or whatever. People say, ‘Oh, I remember how much I love this.’”
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Woodard estimates a new Marvel movie gives the restaurant a 15 percent or so increase in business. For some movies, that lasts a week or maybe two. However with nuclear level hits like The Avengers series or this latest Spider-Man, that bump can last a month or longer.
“Any time you can generate extra revenue on top of what you had budgeted,” Woodard says, “that’s money that can either go back into the business, your employees or make sure the lights stay on if you’ve been struggling before that. So those things are extremely important for us.”
Supper Heroes closely tracks release dates of upcoming films to make sure the restaurant’s adequately staffed around those dates. “It’s important,” Woodard says,” that you can take care of your customers appropriately, so they don’t have a bad experience because you’re busier than you normally are.”
In addition to superhero fare, new “Star Wars” releases also increase traffic at Supper Heroes. In general, films based on DC Comics, Marvel’s comic-book publishing rival, aren’t as impactful. However, 2017′s “Wonder Woman” was an exception, and Woodward thinks upcoming Robert Pattinson-starring “The Batman” film will “be huge.”
Supper Heroes co-owner Mark Woodard. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)bn
Supper Heroes is housed in a mild-mannered former home beside a Domino’s Pizza at 1812 Winchester Road. The restaurant’s interior is like a temple/museum to caped crusaders. There’s a Stan Lee-autographed, life-size Thor’s hammer in a case. The dining room is decorated with more than 100 framed comic-books and impressive action-figure collection displays. Overhead lights have been painted with symbols from the costumes of characters such as Mr. Fantastic, Flash and The Punisher.
Supper Heroes’ menu looks like a comic-book, with items like the “Brown Chicken, Brown Cow,” a fried-egg-topped bacon-cheeseburger, described in action-packed panels, vividly illustrated by Joe Simmons. There are no Dr. Octopus Fish Sticks or Batman Wings on the menu though. “I can’t use their trademarked characters to sell my items,” Woodard says. Similarly, while TVs in the restaurant’s dining room show superhero and science-fiction movies, the sound must be off to be legal.
Woodward’s been collecting comic books since the early ‘70s, amassing a collection of more than 60,000, including personal faves like “Daredevil” and “Hellboy.” He and Mike Staggs, two friends from Auburn University with decades of service-industry experience between them, opened Supper Heroes in 2013. They currently employ a staff of around 10. The restaurant’s Facebook page has almost 14,000 followers.
When a new Marvel movie comes out, Supper Heroes is often part of a family day-out for Greg Alburl, a Huntsville resident who works as a technical writer, Alburl’s wife and their 10-year-old son. During the holidays, he Alburls dined at the restaurant before catching a matinee of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The family had previously made Supper Heroes part of their Marvel movie mission for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Thor: The Dark World” and “Avengers: End Game.”
“It’s a regular part of our moviegoing experience,” Alburl says. “My son knows that if we go to Supper Heroes, today’s going to be a special type day. There’s the atmosphere, right? And you might see someone dressed up as Batman. But if Supper Heroes’ food wasn’t good – and we’ve always gotten really nice service – then we wouldn’t go, just to go to a comic-book-themed restaurant before we see a comic-book themed movie.” Alburl family faves to order there include the Full Clip, a chili-cheese-fries appetizer.
Although Alburl read “The Uncanny X-Men” some growing up and his son plays Marvel-related videogames, his family’s Marvel fandom is mostly derived from the movies. “They’re just so well-done for the most part,” Alburl says. “Even my wife is hooked. She is all about watching some superhero movies and talking about what happened in the last movies.”
Ed Walls’ business isn’t comic-book related. His business is comic-books. Walls opened The DeeP in Huntsville in 1995 and the shop - which, in addition to stocking 800,000 comic-books, sells toys and games - is located in a space formerly home to an electronics parts retailer, at 2310 Memorial Pkwy. S.W.
The biggest impact a superhero blockbuster has on The DeeP is bringing back customers who’d drifted away from the shop or from comic-books in general. “They renew their interest in the character,” Walls says, “and they want to come in and see what’s going on now. Especially with COVID over the last few years, people didn’t want to get out or they moved onto other things. (A new Marvel movie) gets them to come back.”
Amid a new blockbuster, some parents will come to the shop and ask Walls or one of his 23 employees something like, “My kid loves Spider-Man. Do you have any children’s comics?” The DeeP carries comic-books for a variety of ages, and it’s vital for the business to develop new comic-book fans and customers.
A Marvel hit can also sends fans into the past. For example, leading up to “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” a promotional image appeared to show classic nemesis Green Goblin in the background. This inspired some of The DeeP’s customers to seek out back issues of Spider-Man comics featuring the Green Goblin. In the case of recent Disney+ streaming series “Hawkeye,” female lead character Kate Bishop led some fans more familiar with that archer-hero’s vintage Cliff Barton era to check out recent Bishop-focused Hawkeye comics.
2014′s “Guardians of the Galaxy” was somewhat of a surprise hit film. The comic-books aren’t nearly as iconic as many other Marvel titles, so the “Guardians” films raised awareness and interest for the source material. Walls’ all-time favorite superhero is Spider-Man, but he feels the Deadpool films are the strongest film adaptations so far. “They really stayed true to the character,” Walls says, “and (‘Deadpool’ star) Ryan Reynolds was a great fit.”
Superhero movies have drastically altered the perception of comic-books and the people who read, collect and obsess over them, Wall says. “They’ve made comic-books cool. When I was growing up back in the ‘80s, comic-book readers got bullied. But now people can be open about it and go, ‘Yeah, I love the Marvel Universe. I love comic-books and superheroes.’ It’s making it mainstream and acceptable, and so people outside purists can enjoy the hobby as well.”
With their colorful characters, A-list actors, mega-budgets and flashy special effects, superhero movies are usually built to be rainmakers. But Walls believers there’s real-life lessons to be found inside these larger-than-life productions. “A lot of these characters, what makes them heroes is they always tried to do the right thing, and if they find it’s not then they make amends for it. And try again.”