Movie posters are one of the best ways for someone to celebrate their love of cinema. You can’t constantly be watching movies, and most of us can’t afford screen-used props, but hopefully, we have walls. And putting a perfect representation of a movie on your wall is a great way to say, “I love this, and I want it to be part of my life every day.”
For decades, the movie poster was a thing of beauty. A true art form. Artists like Drew Struzan and John Alvin would paint beautiful landscapes and portraits that studios would turn into images that got sent to theaters all over the world. Designers like Saul Bass would conceptualize something awesome and unique, which would then become synonymous with a film or series. But, in recent years, those practices have, in large part, gone away.
As homogenized, repetitive collages of characters from a film became more and more prevalent, discerning poster fans looked into alternative markets. Companies like Mondo, Bottleneck Gallery, Gallery 1988, and others gave young artists chances to make their own movie posters, and the results were both stunning and collectible. It took a while, but eventually, studios took notice and started hiring some of those artists to work directly with them.
And, in 2025, it finally felt like everything was merging to set us on a whole new path. At least a little bit.
One such example is artist Matt Ferguson. Ferguson is a UK-based illustrator who, this year alone, did official posters for Predator: Badlands, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the anniversary of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The Running Man, and Black Phone 2.
“I think there is more of a desire for singular illustrated posters,” Ferguson told io9. “Not always for the main payoff poster, but definitely in the mix.” Though, to be fair, his Predator: Badlands was indeed the final payoff poster. Here it is.
Part of the reason artists like Ferguson aren’t doing every single poster is that most times, studios want more control. Approvals come from not just filmmakers but an army of executives, too. That’s harder to do when it’s just one person who does a poster from start to finish. “I don’t ‘finish’ other layouts,” Ferguson said. “I do the whole thing from concept to completion, including graphic design and type.”
So why the change, especially this year? Well, Ferguson has a pretty convincing theory. “For me personally in this age of generative AI, I think it’s only a good thing that [a movie] can say, ‘This poster was made by this person,’” Ferguson said. “There’s that legitimacy and authenticity that you instantly get. And I think that’s a big reason why there’s been this kind of feeling of more creative and interesting posters recently.”
So what other films met that challenge this year? Ferguson wasn’t the only one who worked on The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Artist Paul Mann did a whole collection of images that were used for that film as well. Marvel used artist Akiko Stehrenberger for a stunning alternative on Thunderbolts. Over at DC, the Superman campaign was filled with the type of simple, heroic images from days past.
Netflix also recruited artist James Jean, who did 2022’s stunning image for Everything Everywhere All at Once, for an unforgettable Frankenstein poster (seen below). Matt Ryan Tobin did an early poster for Tron: Ares, Canadian-based artists Phantom City Creative did an official poster for Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, and those are just the tip of the iceberg. Bugonia, No Other Choice, and Sinners were also recently spotlighted by the Los Angeles Times for their shift to a more artistic style.
Is every poster going to be like that? Of course not. Major studios with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line are not always willing to gamble on singular artistic visions. But that they exist and are becoming more prevalent is encouraging. Plus, smaller studios and smaller films are always a place to look for great art, and this year alone, posters for Dangerous Animals, Reflections in a Dead Diamond, Good Boy, and Together are just a few of the standouts.
The year 2025 felt like a turn had finally been made in the right direction. It won’t be instant, and it may never be the way it was, but it seems like, just maybe, the theatrical movie poster could be coming back in a big, big way. Here’s a gallery of some of the other images referenced above, if they aren’t linked.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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