Some of the longest lines during U.S. Open Fan Week weren’t for watching the world’s top tennis players practice.
They were for Spider-Man.
The U.S. Open teamed up with Marvel for the third consecutive year to release an original Spider-Man comic tied to the tournament’s 2026 “Celebrating Our New York Story” theme. More than 40,000 copies were slated to be distributed free during Fan Week at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
But five much rarer versions turned the giveaway into a legitimate hunt.
Marvel created collectible covers representing each of New York City’s five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Only 1,000 copies of each borough edition were produced, with blind-bag versions distributed to the first 1,000 eligible fans each day from Aug. 23 through Aug. 29.
The demand was difficult to understand until you saw it in person. I arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center around 9:20 a.m., well before Fan Week activities officially began. Fans were already gathered inside the security perimeter, waiting for access to open.
The second it did, people started running.
And this wasn’t a booth sitting just inside the gate. Getting to the giveaway required several minutes of walking across the grounds, but that didn’t stop fans from sprinting toward it. By the time I made it over, a substantial line had already formed.
The frenzy didn’t necessarily end after people got their comics, either. Some fans appeared to be getting on and off the line in hopes of securing additional copies, turning what was technically a free giveaway into one of the morning’s most competitive attractions.
That intensity speaks to something bigger happening at U.S. Open Fan Week. The tennis is still the main event, but limited-edition merchandise and brand activations have increasingly become attractions of their own.
The Spider-Man comics weren’t the only example. At an American Express activation elsewhere on the grounds, I watched fans rush toward the booth when distribution resumed after a pause, all for a limited-edition phone charm. The response was another reminder that, for some attendees, scoring the free collectible has become almost as much a part of the Fan Week experience as watching players practice.
The comic itself is unmistakably New York.
The story follows Spider-Man battling Scorpion across all five boroughs on his way to the U.S. Open, passing familiar landmarks before eventually arriving at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens.
The collaboration works particularly well because Spider-Man has always been such a New York character. Peter Parker grew up in Queens, making a comic that ends at the U.S. Open feel less like a random brand crossover and more like a surprisingly natural extension of his story.
Still, the reaction to the limited covers may have been the most impressive part of the collaboration.
At a Fan Week filled with some of the best tennis players in the world practicing only feet away, convincing people to show up early and run across the grounds for a comic book might be Marvel’s most remarkable superpower yet.
This story was originally published byMen’s Journalon Aug 31, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Men’s Journal as aPreferred
