The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a staple in many households to view prior to enjoying a meal with their loved ones. This year, the broadcast will not only be new on streaming for those with a Peacock subscription, but Marvel fans can also spot a 44-foot Spider-Man balloon during the festivities. That’s right, after a decade of the parade being without the character, he’s back, but I especially love the tribute it's playing to an iconic comic book artist.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Will Pay Tribute To John Romita Sr.
Sure, Spider-Man is known to be part of the best Marvel movies, but on Turkey Day, he’ll be assembling with the likes of Bluey, Minnie Mouse, Goku, Pikachu, Smokey Bear and much more. In an interview with Polygon, the parade’s executive producer, Will Coss, also shared that the brand-new balloon is particularly inspired by the artwork of John Romita Sr. As Coss said:
It was John the whole way through. 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.
This Spider-Man balloon is the first time the popular comic book hero has been part of the Macy’s parade since 2014. The superhero initially debuted on the program back in 1987 before the balloon was retired in 1998. Then, Spidey came back in 2009 with a new design, which is the last version we saw a decade ago. Take a look at the new balloon (via AP):
The balloon has Spider-Man in web-swinging action as opposed to the former version that had one hand in wall-crawling mode. The original version that debuted in the '80s had two palms out parallel to the ground.
Why The Thanksgiving Parade Tribute To John Romita Sr. Is So Amazing
This new Spider-Man balloon mimics the design style of John Romita Sr’s drawing style of the web-slinger, which is a rather iconic version of the character in the comics. Romita Sr. wasn’t the first artist to draw the superhero (that was Steve Ditko), but he is well-known as the first notable artist after him to take on the character regularly. After Ditko abruptly left Marvel in 1966, Stan Lee gave the job of illustrator to Romita. His version of Spidey later became the logo of Marvel Comics (on every cover!).
Romita Sr. is responsible for designing the first version of Mary Jane Watson, along with debuting Rhino, Kingpin, Punisher, Luke Cage and Wolverine in his yellow suit (which Hugh Jackman recently dressed as in Deadpool and Wolverine). You can check out the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in all time zones on live TV and Peacock. Also, get ready for upcoming Spider-Man movies and TV shows (including the Spider-Man 4 release date) here on CinemaBlend.
