Next year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has promised the exploration of several more bizarre universes after the first film set the scene for the multiverse madness, but who is the villain?
Into the Spider-Verse saw essentially three antagonists: Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, Doctor Octopus variant Olivia Octavius, and Miles’ uncle Aaron, who also happened to be The Prowler. The next two films, Across the Spider-Verse and Beyond the Spider-Verse, will see our many Spider-Men face a mysterious and kooky-looking adversary named The Spot.
Who is Spot?
Dr. Johnathan Ohnn is a former M.I.T. student and colleague of one Quentin Beck, who would later become Mysterio. Ohnn, like most scientists in Marvel Comics, decided to turn to morally questionable experiments. Working for Kingpin, he happened upon a strange interdimensional travel ability through black circles.
Ohnn’s body bonded to these circles with him becoming a strange, white, gimp-suit man with black splodges all over him. The cool thing, though, is he’s able to throw them around to travel, and he can make Spider-Man punch himself, as seen in a famous comic panel.
He’s powered by the Darkforce, one of the many mystical and cosmic forces within the universe. Thanks to this, he’s best mates with Mr. Negative, who is also a fellow black-and-white-but-actually-morally-grey villain. Essentially a teleporter, Spot doesn’t trigger Spider-Man’s spider-senses because each attack comes from a different dimension. Put him up against Doctor Strange, however, and it could get messy.
Spot is an immortal of sorts. When he dies, he returns to the Spot Dimension, which I assume is what happens when real people die.
What’s he doing in Across the Spider-Verse?
The Spot set to be the main antagonist of at least Across the Spider-Verse, being voiced by Jason Schwartzman. What exactly the plan of the spot-clad villain will be is unclear. Considering his comic origin is intertwined with Kingpin, the obvious guess is he’s following up from the events of the first film.
Despite being visually played for laughs in comics, the peaks of Spot seen in promotional materials for the film promises a more sinister, otherworldly presence. If he proves successful, it doesn’t seem out of the question we could see a live-action version in a future Spider-Man film or Morbius sequel.
