Hundreds of fans showed up to New York Comic Con dressed as Spider-Man this month for a shot at a Guinness World Record — and came up just short of the wall-crawling competition they were chasing.
The attempt, organized by toy company Jazwares in partnership with Disney Consumer Products, aimed to break the record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Spider-Man, UPI reported. That record, 685 costumed participants, was set in 2023 when Sony Pictures Entertainment Malaysia assembled fans to mark the release of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."
Organizers at this year's attempt had not released an official final tally, but acknowledged the count fell just short of the 685 needed to claim the title — a deflating result after what was, by all accounts, a strong turnout of masked, web-slinging convention-goers filling a corner of the show floor.
Comic Con crowds have become something of a recurring arena for costume-based Guinness attempts in recent years, with organizers using the concentrated density of superhero fans at major conventions to try to assemble record-sized groups in a single costume. New York Comic Con, now one of the largest pop-culture gatherings in the country, draws hundreds of thousands of attendees each October, many in costume regardless of whether an official record attempt is underway.
For participants, the shortfall didn't appear to dampen the appeal of the stunt: free costumes were offered to fans willing to take part, turning what might have been a straightforward marketing tie-in into one of the weekend's more photographed spectacles, win or lose.
Jazwares and Disney haven't said whether they plan a second attempt at a future convention. Guinness World Records typically allows organizers to resubmit footage and an official headcount for review after an event, so a final verdict on just how close the Spider-Men came could still be forthcoming.