2004's groundbreaking videogame Spider-Man 2, based on the renowned superhero movie, is considered by many to be a classic to this day. And while it will forever be memorialized as the first-ever open world superhero game, paving the way for the highest-quality Spider-Man games of today, many fans who played the classic PS2 and Xbox videogame remember it best for one very bizarre (and oftentimes infuriating) side-quest.
While web-swinging through the sprawling concrete jungle of New York City, an exceptionally obnoxious child who just lost hold of their balloon would suddenly start whining and crying out, "Oh no, my balloon!" It was then your duty as Spider-Man to fetch the kid's difficult-to-obtain balloon before the wind forever blew it out of reach.
The kid's wailing and moaning would only get more earsplitting the longer you took to catch hold of it, with the child demanding the rubber-ball of helium's immediate return, "Balloon, come back. Come back!" If you managed to catch the balloon and return it to the whimpering youngster, he'd bust out a celebratory jig and excitedly exclaim, "Wow, my balloon is back!" But still, you wouldn't receive a single "thank you" or even acknowledgment of your arduous work.
This offbeat side-mission has since evolved into a hilarious meme for gamers who can't forget this zany addition to Spider-Man's friendly neighborhood duties, with multiple subsequent Spidey games referencing and parodying the unforgettable balloon kid - including a devilish option while playing as Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man to eat the little balloon-loving rascal alive. Now, the infamous balloon kid has officially made his way into Spider-Man's comics, and the web-slinger's finally found a more suitable way to deal with the troublesome little gremlin.
In the debut issue of Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black by Peter David and Greg Land, the bane of too-many gamers' existence is finally bestowed a name: Orson. As the boy walks through New York City, hand in hand with his mother, a familiar scene unfolds. Orson's balloon slips suddenly from his grasp, so the little guy takes off after it while belting out his infamous line, "My balloon!" For any old-time spider-gamer, it's the loudest line of dialogue ever printed in a comic book. Orson chases after the balloon on the loose until the friendly web-head himself drops by. Only here, Spidey doesn't fetch the boy's balloon; in fact, he pays no mind to it, instead focusing on saving little Orson from getting hit by a car and yanking him out of danger just in the knick of time.
It seems Orson still hasn't learned much in the way of gratitude since 2004, though, as the little scoundrel still doesn't thank Spider-Man for saving his life, even going so far as to tell his mom that it was Daredevil who rescued him. However, this moment is much more in line with Peter Parker's neighborhood protecting priorities than the Spider-Man 2 videogame seemed to suggest. Part of what made that game's side mission stick out like a sore thumb was the nagging question it left behind in a lot of gamers' minds at the time: "Why am I putting so much time into fetching a little kid's balloon instead of saving lives?" It's hard to say for sure if Peter David slipped this quick moment into his narrative as an intentional homage to the classic Spider-Man videogame mission, but coincidence or not, it's sure to dredge up some distressing memories for a mass of old-school Spider-Man gamers.