Spider-Man is swinging into the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with an amazing new look. For the first time since 2014, the web-slinger will soar above the streets of New York City with a new parade balloon crafted in the style of late Marvel Comics art director and legendary Amazing Spider-Man artist John Romita Sr., who designed the look of Mary Jane Watson and co-created villains like the Rhino, Shocker, and Kingpin. For his return to the parade, Spider-Man is positioned in a dynamic web-swinging pose (rather than a wall-crawling one) resembling Romita’s classic cover for the 1972 Amazing Spider-Man album Rockomic.
The 34-foot wide, 44-foot tall balloon is the longest of the 17 featured character helium balloons at 77.5 feet, and easily the most muscular. (Romita, who had penciled romance serials before replacing original series artist Steve Ditko on Amazing, initially mimicked Ditko’s style before beefing up the scrawnier wall-crawler.)
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The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Spider-Man balloon brings “a whole new kind of energy and muscular dynamic to the parade this year,” Will Coss, Vice President and Executive Producer of Macy’s Studios, told Polygon. “I have to say, I’m not sure if you’ve seen any of the renderings, or any of our test flights, but he is a pretty impressive balloon.”
Spider-Man made his first appearance at the annual parade (in costume) in 1981, and by 1987, the Spidey balloon took flight for the first time alongside a Marvel-sponsored float featuring Captain America, Doctor Strange, and Romita co-creations Luke Cage and Wolverine in the flesh. The balloon was retired in 1998 after 12 appearances and wouldn’t return until 2009. That version combined the classic pose of the previous balloon — his arms outstretched and his legs bent behind him in crawling mode — but featured Spidey’s classic web-slinging pose with a more modernized look.
“We were fortunate enough to start these conversations with our friends on the Marvel side quite a bit ago, and it just took a little bit of time to key in on character and key in on the artistic approach,” Coss added of the publisher, which celebrated its 85th anniversary in August.
The redesigned balloon “started with a couple of sketches,” Coss explained, “and a couple of poses of a couple of different ways that we’d extend the arm, and the hand. ‘Was it going to be on the angle?‘ The muscular tone within the thighs, we specifically spent a lot of time on.” But the decision to base the balloon on Romita’s iconic design and style was never in question.
“It was John the whole way through,” Coss said. “I think we knew early on that this was the approach, the style. Once we had an opportunity to confirm that we were going to be fortunate enough to have Spider-Man return to the parade, we keyed in on it early.”
Marvel’s Spider-Man is part of a fleet of new balloons for 2024 that includes Disney Minnie Mouse (by The Walt Disney Company), Extraordinary Noorah & The Elf on the Shelf (The Lumistella Company), Gabby’s Dollhouse Gabby (by Universal Pictures’ Dreamworks Animation), Dragon Ball‘s Goku (Toei Animation, Inc.), and Paw Patrol‘s Marshall (Nickelodeon).
Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, including the parade start time, performers list, and float and balloon lineup.
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