Hyundai’s IONIQ 5, Tucson to hit big screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Hyundai Motor Co.'s all-electric IONIQ 5 SUV and the flagship SUV Tucson will be featured in Sony Pictures’ upcoming film Spider-Man: No Way Home, set to hit the Korean movie theaters on Dec. 15, the world’s first launch.

Hyundai, South Korea’s top automaker, said on Tuesday the two sport utility vehicles’ Hollywood movie debut is part of its strategic partnership with Sony inked in May 2020.

“The placement of the all-electric IONIQ 5 and all-new Tucson in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ marks the first meaningful milestone in the strategic partnership between Hyundai Motor and Sony Pictures Entertainment,” said Thomas Schemera, Hyundai Motor’s global chief marketing officer and head of customer experience division.

“We expect great marketing impact from this collaboration. This exciting film and the two vehicles’ inclusion in key moments of the storyline played by the main characters will exhilarate the minds of millions of viewers around the world.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the third Spider-Man film created by Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, starring Tom Holland, who plays the role of high-schooler Peter Parker and his alias, Spider-Man.

Its predecessor, Spider-Man: Far From Home, grossed $ 1.13 billion worldwide as the fourth-highest-grossing movie of 2019 and the 25th-highest-grossing movie of all time.

UNCHARTED, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Besides the product-placement scheme, Hyundai Motor said it will pursue diverse marketing activities by using its intellectual property rights associated with the latest series of the Spider-Man film.

Among them is the long-form commercial, Only Way Home, directed by Jon Watts, the director of all three of the most recent Spider-Man films, and features Tom Holland as Spider-Man and his best friend Ned Leeds played by Jacob Batalon.

In this TV spot, Spider-Man is bent on clearing his name and comes out of hiding, hitching a 300-mile ride to New York with Ned in the all-electric IONIQ 5.

The two characters cruise their way through an open country inside the sunlight-reflecting, futuristic-looking IONIQ 5, exchanging banter along the way.

In addition, Hyundai Motor has also created a 30-second spot featuring the all-new Tucson compact SUV.

Following Spider-Man: No Way Home, Hyundai Motor said it will organize diverse marketing initiatives related to the upcoming film, Uncharted, due to premiere in February 2022, and the sequel to the critically acclaimed, Academy Award-winning animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, due to premiere in October 2022.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.