Sony has revealed the first proper look at the Spider-Man villain: Across the Spider-Verse – and he sounds distinctly formidable.
Revealed at a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse panel during the Annecy Film Festival 2022, Sony confirmed that The Spot – an adversary of Spider-Man and Daredevil in Marvel comics – would be the film’s main antagonist. Additionally, Sony revealed that Jason Schwartzman (Fargo, The Darjeeling Limited) would voice The Spot in the animated sequel.
To give non-Annecy attendees a glimpse of The Spot in action, a still image of the supervillain battling Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) was released online during the presentation. Check out the tweet below for more, which shows that The Spot will be outfitted in his familiar black and white costume in the superhero movie:
Meet The Spot, Miles Morales’ most formidable foe yet, who debuted at #AnnecyFestival. He is voiced by Jason Schwartzman. 🕳 See him in action in Spider-Man: Across the #SpiderVerse, in theaters June 2, 2023. pic.twitter.com/9V1fzvlR6AJune 13, 2022
For those who don’t know much about The Spot, he is a villain whose body is covered by interdimensional portals. This allows The Spot to traverse the Marvel multiverse at will, traveling to different timelines to commit crimes before seamlessly evading the authorities. He can also make portals appear out of nowhere and transport people or objects to any location. It looks like the movie’s Spider-Man contingent will have a worthy adversary to contend with, then.
Across the Spider-Verse is set to explore, well, the Spider-Verse in more detail than its predecessor – Into the Spider-Verse – did. With interdimensional travel forming a key part of its plot, a menacing enemy like The Spot is ideal for Miles Morales’ second cinematic outing.
In addition to Schwartzman’s cast, Sony has announced/confirmed several other voice actors for their upcoming project. The studio revealed that Issa Rae (Insecure) would voice Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, in the sequel – confirming months-old rumors that Rae had been chosen to play the fan-favorite character.
Meanwhile, Shea Wigham (Boardwalk Empire, the Fast & Furious series) will play Captain George Stacey, Gwen’s father and New York’s chief of police. Finally, Jorma Taccone (The Lonely Island, MacGruber) will voice villain Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture.
The trio joins Moore and Steinfeld, as well as Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight, Dune), who will voice Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 in Across the Spider-Verse. Jake Johnson, who played Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man in the first film, is also set to return.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will exclusively hit theaters on June 2, 2023. A sequel, currently titled Beyond the Spider-Verse, will also be released in March 2024.
Analysis: Who is The Spot, Jason Schwartman’s character in Across the Spider-Verse?
Need a little more backstory on The Spot? Allow us to help you.
The Spot made his debut in Spectacular Spider-Man #97 in December 1984. Real name Jonathan Ohnn, The Spot began life as a scientist working for Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. Kingpin hires Ohnn to try to replicate the radiation levels of the superhero known as Cloak so Kingpin can mimic Cloak’s teleportation powers.
After performing several experiments, Ohnn successfully created a solid black circular portal to another realm. Walking through it, Ohnn found himself in a weightless dimension with a seemingly infinite number of doors to other worlds and universes. Ohnn finally found his way back to his timeline, but his body was transformed by his brief visit to the unnamed location. Namely, his body was now covered in black spots, which allowed Ohnn to travel to alternate realities and become a supervillain in his own right.
With the ability to open multiple portals at will, Spot’s primary attack has him using these doors to punch, kick, or throw objects at his enemies from unexpected angles and great distances. Spot doesn’t possess any other superpowers, but he’s more than a match for most Spider-Men and Spider-Women, regardless.
Because? Because Spot’s interdimensional energy signatures cannot be picked up by Spider-Man’s spider-sense, or the spider-sense of any similar hero. Subsequently, The Spot has a distinct advantage of being able to launch surprise attacks on Spider-Man, forcing the webslinger to come up with unusual plans to combat that particular enemy. Expect Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen and company to come up with a creative game plan to try and take on The Spot in Across the Spider-Verse.
For more Marvel-based content, check out our guide on how to watch Marvel movies in order. Alternatively, read the official Thor: Love and Thunder runtime, which is surprisingly shorter than you think it will be.
