‘Across the Spider-Verse’ viewers reminded just how powerful a villain was in his first animated incarnation

In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it was Kingpin and The Prowler, but in the animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it is The Spot, who’s actually been a consistent Spider-Man villain across Marvel history, but has often been overshadowed by the likes of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, The Lizard, Sandman, Electro, and Kingpin. In Across the Spider-Verse, he’s voiced by Jason Schwartzman, who co-write 2018’s Isle of Dogs, but the supervillain first appeared as Dr. Jonathan Ohnn (an unnamed character at the time) in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97 (December 1984). It wasn’t until the following issue, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #98, that his name was revealed as The Spot (or simply Spot).

In 1994, The Spot appeared in a self-titled episode of the TV series Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Oliver Muirhead. That depiction was a scientist who worked under Tony Stark until Venom and Carnage stole his technology. Dr. Ohn was subsequently hired by Kingpin to create interdimensional portals. On one occasion, Ohn fell into one of his own portals, causing multiple others to attach themselves to him. From this freak accident, he gained the ability to open and close portals at will. Adopting the alias “Spot,” he used his newfound powers for personal gain, robbing banks or joining forces with the likes of Kingpin to wreak havoc across New York City.

In the animated series, Ohn sacrifices himself to close a portal that’s been left open for too long and threatens to engulf the entirety of NYC. But that isn’t his only appearance outside of the comics; as the below TikTok shows, Spot has also been a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions – a fighting video game from developers Kabam that mimics the style of Mortal Kombat and Injustice. In both iterations, Spot is extremely powerful, whether he’s subduing Spider-Man with his own webs or laying the beat-down on Venom.

And that’s no different in Across the Spider-Verse, either. Interestingly, as Collider reports, The Spot wasn’t originally the film’s main villain, but was suggested by producer Avi Arad. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller at first dismissed the idea, but after talking more about his powers, they made him the antagonist. Of course, this new supervillain needed to compete with Liev Schreiber’s Kingpin from the previous film, but that wasn’t a problem for Lord and Miller after talking things through.

When we first meet Spot in Across the Spider-Verse, he’s still adjusting to his powers and isn’t exactly much of a full-fledged supervillain. However, as time progresses, Spot harnesses his powers and becomes a real threat to the Spider-Society, especially Miles. In the Spider-Verse canon, Ohn gains Spot’s powers after the Alchemax collider explodes at the end of Into the Spider-Verse.

No amount of words can attest to how powerful Spot truly is. You’ll have to catch him in action to decide for yourself.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is showing in theaters now.