Man Dresses as Spider-Man to Spread Joy to Kids Stuck in Quarantine

A Wisconsin man, trying to figure out how to make life during social distancing a little more exciting for hte kids in his neighborhood, has taken to dressing up as Spider-Man to bring some smiles to the kids around town. Mike Justman, an artist and gas station employee in New Berlin, Wisconsin, reportedly started bringing a Spider-Man costume out after he was making signs for a 2-year-old’s “car parade” birthday party, and it took off, becoming a big part of life in the neighborhood quarantine, according to a report from Yahoo! Life. Luckily for him, he had the costume around already.

Per the report, Justman and his daughter dressed as Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen for Halloween, so if the costumes were one of those things that were harder to find during quarantine, it wouldn’t have mattered. When he posted to Facebook that he was going to be visiting neighborhood kids, he was inundated with requests from parents who wanted in within a couple of days.

“It has definitely gotten bigger than we ever thought it would be,” admitted Justman, who does the visits via car parade as well, his wife behind the wheel.

Of course, the big difference between his and his wife’s roles? Justman rides atop the Honda Civic, rather than riding inside. Similarly, Justman reportedly arrives to see the kids by leaping from the roof and striking a (we assume Deadpool-inspired) superhero pose.

It has become not just a friendly neighborhood activity, but a charity drive as well. Justman’s popularity led to some of the parents to begin sending him unsolicitated donations, which he will use to provide support for less-fortunate people in the community.

After it started to get bigger, Justman’s Spider-Man partnered with Jester Fun Entertainment, a company that makes balloon displays for birthday parties. Since Jester Fun Entertainment has also struggled making money during the coronavirus shutdown, Justman uses some of those dontations to purchase balloons from the locally-owned store, helping to keep them afloat while also bringing a little something extra to the kids he visits with his wife.

He is, of course, far from the first person to make superheroes into something to keep a smile on kids’ faces — but it takes a little bit of extra skill to figure out how to make it happen during the pandemic, when it’s impossible to get into the pediatric ward at the hospital.

“Any kind of difference I can make that is positive is always important to me,” Justman said.