''The Daily Bugle'' (formerly ''TheDailyBugle.net'') is an American

faux Faux may refer to: People *Faux (surname) Places Places in Belgium * Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne Places in France * Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department * Faux-en-Périgord, French commune o ...

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly American magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format), a genre of broadcast journalism * ''Current Affairs'', former name for ''Behind the News' ...

digital series serving as the center of several

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way th ...

campaigns created by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

. Based on the fictional

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

agency of the same name appearing in several

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

publications—the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos initially began as marketing for the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

(MCU) film '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', and deal with major events depicted in the MCU and later the

Sony's Spider-Man Universe Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the fil ...

(SSU) films, with the second and third seasons primarily releasing on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. The first season of the

news program News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming ...

features

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. Considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation, he has amassed over 200 screen and stage credits since his 1986 debut. He won th ...

J. Jonah Jameson John Jonah Jameson Jr., known as J. Jonah Jameson, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist St ...

, reprising his role from the MCU films and

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy. Several other actors reprise their roles from the films, while archival footage of others is also used. The initial videos were released from October to November 2019, focusing on the immediate aftermath of ''Spider-Man: Far From Home''. A second season, leading up to the events of the sequel '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' and featuring

Angourie Rice Angourie Isabel Teresa Rice ( ; born 1 January 2001) is an Australian actress. She began her career as a child actress, coming to attention for her roles in '' These Final Hours'' (2013) and '' The Nice Guys'' (2016). She played Betty Brant in ...

reprising her role as

Betty Brant Elizabeth "Betty" Brant-Leeds is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories featuring the superhero Spider-Man. She is the personal secretary of J. Jonah Jameson at the ''Daily Bugle'', ...

, began in November 2021. A third season, leading up to the events of the SSU film ''

Morbius Morbius (born Michael Morbius, also known as Morgan Michaels, Morbius the Living Vampire and Nikos Michaels) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and originally designed by pen ...

'' and featuring Nicque Marina as a fictionalized version of herself, released in March 2022, separately from the ''No Way Home'' videos. The videos are accompanied by additional marketing materials, such as in-universe web articles and social media posts. The series has been received positively, seen as better than average viral marketing campaigns, and as a fun and insightful expansion of the MCU for fans of the franchise.

''Spider-Man: Far From Home'' campaign (2019)

''Spider-Man: No Way Home'' campaign (2021–2022)

Episodes six through eight and eleven are ''Burning Questions with Betty Brant'' episodes. The campaign released additional videos as a bonus feature with '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021) digital release in March 2022, with further episodes being released in April.

''Morbius'' campaign (2022)

Cast and characters

(seasons 1–2), the presenter of ''The Daily Bugle'' who is carrying out a media smear campaign against the vigilante

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

. *

(season 2), Peter Parker's classmate at the Midtown School of Science and Technology and a new (unpaid) intern at ''The Daily Bugle'' who has been put in charge of its

account. She often attempts to counter Jameson's defamation of Parker having known him personally, much to his dismay. * Nicque Marina as a fictionalized version of herself (season 3), a new social correspondent at ''The Daily Bugle'' reporting on the crime spree of Dr. Michael Morbius. Also reprising their roles from the

(MCU) films are

Tony Revolori Anthony Revolori ( Quiñonez; born April 28, 1996) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his collaborations with Wes Anderson starring in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' (2014), ''The French Dispatch'' (2021), and ''Asteroid City' ...

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...

Eugene "Flash" Thompson,

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( ; born February 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's '' The Eric Andre Show'' from 20 ...

as Midtown High gym teacher Coach Wilson, Jacob Batalon as

Ned Leeds Edward "Ned" Leeds is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A supporting character in stories featuring the superhero Spider-Man, he has been a reporter for the ''Daily Bugle'', and husband of Betty B ...

, and

Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, he featured on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list of 2019. Some publications have called him one of the most ...

as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, with

Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal ( , ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor who has worked on screen and stage for over thirty years. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi ...

appearing as Quentin Beck / Mysterio via

archive footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

from ''Spider-Man: Far From Home''. In the third season, footage of

Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in Jared Leto filmography, a variety of roles, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Jared Leto, numerous accolade ...

and

Adria Arjona Adria Arjona Torres (; born April 25, 1992) is an American actress. She played Dorothy Gale in the Oz book adaptation ''Emerald City'' (2017), Anathema Device in ''Good Omens'' (2019), and Bix Caleen in '' Andor'' (2022–2025). She has starr ...

as Dr. Michael Morbius and Martine Bancroft from the

(SSU) film ''

'' is used.

Production

From 2002 to 2007, the

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

was featured in a trilogy of live-action films directed by

, serving as a major source of

comic relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

throughout the series, retaining a dislike for

and taking delight in anything that might discredit or defame him, but remains a good man at his core. After reprising the role in numerous animated projects, Simmons expressed interest in reprising the role in live-action in

Marc Webb Marc Preston Webb (born August 31, 1974) is an American filmmaker and music video director. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the romantic comedy '' (500) Days of Summer.'' He then directed ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (2012 ...

's ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' duology in April 2014, should the studio offer him the role. Simmons ultimately reprised his role as a re-imagined alternate reality version of J. Jonah Jameson in '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', released in the United States on July 2, 2019, making him the first live-action character to be portrayed by the same actor in two different franchises, also reprising the role as the same incarnation of the character in

. Contrastingly to his original depiction, J. Jonah Jameson appears as the host of ''TheDailyBugle.net'', a sensationalist "'' InfoWars''-type video platform." Director

Jon Watts Jonathan Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man in film, ''Spider-Man'' films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): ''Spider-Man: Homecoming, Homec ...

noted that Simmons' performance was over-the-top in Raimi's films, but now that same performance has real-world comparisons, such as

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

. According to

Kevin Feige Kevin Feige ( ; born June 2, 1973) is an American film and television producer. He has been the president of Marvel Studios and the primary producer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise since 2007. The films he has produced have a co ...

, the changes in the real world also meant that moving the character from a newspaper editor to a "radical right news journalist that kind of scream in front of the camera" made more sense. Simmons said he and Watts did not see "eye to eye" on the film's contemporary portrayal of the character versus his performance in Raimi's films. Simmons announced that he has signed on to play J. Jonah Jameson for more films in the MCU and the SSU; following the home media release of ''Spider-Man: Far From Home'' by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

on September 17, 2019, and on

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

, and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on October 1, a

series of shorts starring Simmons, expanding upon his role in and set immediately after the events of ''Far From Home'' running the faux news program ''TheDailyBugle.net'', including an in-character

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account. Footage of Simmons as Jameson, implied to be part the ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'' promotional campaign, appears in the

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually i ...

of the 2021 SSU film '' Venom: Let There Be Carnage''; this was officially released as part of the ''No Way Home'' campaign on YouTube, named "Web of Lies!", in April 2022. Simmons returned as J. Jonah Jameson, with

also returning as Eugene "Flash" Thompson. Marvel partnered with

to produce the videos, which follow the character in the immediate aftermath of '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', and the buildup to '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'', while featuring numerous

easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

to the MCU, including such events such as the criminal career and arrest of

Adrian Toomes The Vulture is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of whom are depicted as recurring List of Spider-Man enemies, enemies of the superhero Spider-Man and part of his adversaries co ...

. In addition to archive footage of

and

from the ''Spider-Man'' films, the videos also use original material, and footage showing the aftermath of

Mysterio Mysterio is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #13 (June 1964). He is one of the super ...

's attacks. The second season, primarily released through

and later YouTube, features

alongside Simmons, depicted as a new (unpaid) intern at ''TheDailyBugle.net'' put in charge of its

account. The third season, also released through TikTok and taking place in the SSU, features Nicque Marina as a fictionalized version of herself, depicted as a new social correspondent at ''The Daily Bugle'' reporting on the crime spree of Dr. Michael Morbius; the ''No Way Home'' videos are released in a non-chronological order relative to the events of the film.

Release

The first season was made available on ''TheDailyBugle.net''

channel, with some of them debuting in publications such as

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and ''

The Mary Sue Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. cha ...

''. ''TheDailyBugle.net'' videos also appear as bonus features on the

release of '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019). The second and third seasons were made available on ''TheDailyBugle.net''

channel, with the official website redirected to it.

Supplementary material

Other content released for the viral marketing campaigns include ongoing posts on social media sites such as

and

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, as well as a real version of the fictional TheDailyBugle.net website. Inspired by real-world "conspiracy-pushing" websites such as that of

, the website features Simmons reprising his role as Jameson in a video where he speaks out against Spider-Man and in support of Mysterio, before adding "Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like and subscribe!" The website includes testimonials from supposed victims of "

the Blip The Blip (also known as the Decimation and the Snap) is a fictional major event and period of time depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The Blip began in 2018 when Thanos, wielding all six Infinity Stones in the Infinity Gauntl ...

", including one complaining that they disappeared in a dangerous situation and were seriously injured when they reappeared. This contradicts a statement by Feige saying that anyone in such a situation would have reappeared safely. Several days after this was pointed out, the website was updated to say this story was faked for an insurance claim; with the launch of the ''Spider-Man No Way Home'' campaign in November 2021, the website was redirected to ''TheDailyBugle.net''

account.

Reception

Critical response

Aaron Perine of ''

ComicBook.com ''ComicBook.com'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of comic books, television, films, video games, and anime. The site came online in 1996 serving as a holding page for sales links and press releases related to comic b ...

'' praised the decision to have Simmons return as the character, summarizing their appearance with the

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

"When you own a role so much that the first reboot doesn't show your character and the second reboot straight up brings you back", accompanied by a photograph of Simmons from

's ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles ...

'' (2004) hysterically laughing. Josh Weiss of '' Syfy Wire'' complimented the web series and accompanying website, saying that "Hopefully, this isn't just a one-off thing for the DVD and Blu-ray release, because Sony can milk this thing for all it's worth and ramp up excitement for the next entry." Jessica Fisher of ''Geek Tyrant'' described Simmons' appearance as "awesome but not jaw-dropping" in reviewing the first episode. Eric Diaz of ''Nerdist'' described Simmons' role as a "real delight", saying that " en though he was missing his signature flat top, fans were more than fine with his updated version of Jonah", further describing the tie-in website as a "clever marketing push", praising its "striking resemble to certain famous conspiracy blogs that shall remain nameless InfoWars'', with">' InfoWars'', withthe site's whole aesthetic eingpretty much spot on."

Accolades

The TikTok campaign for ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'' was nominated for a

Shorty Awards The Shorty Awards (also known as "The Shortys") are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achiev ...

in the entertainment category.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daily Bugle (web series), The 2019 web series debuts American news parodies Fictional television shows Marvel Cinematic Universe web series Morbius Sony's Spider-Man Universe Viral marketing