Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse promised to explore dozens of new characters across multiple universes and form a new web. Miles Morales was adapted as the new Spider-Man, revolutionizing the Spider multi-verse and implying the arrival of an equally revolutionizing villain. After introducing Kingpin, Doctor Octopus variant Olivia Octavius, and The Prowler as villains in Into the Spider-Verse, the sequel unveiled a wonderfully amusing and scary new villain called The Spot/Dr. Jonathan Ohnn.
In Marvel Comics, The Spot is a supervillain created by writer Al Milgrom and illustrator Herb Trimpe, who formerly worked for Kingpin as an MIT scientist. His debut appearance as Spider-Man’s adversary was in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97 in December 1984. Using his space warps, The Spot can instantly shift himself or any part of his body from one place to another through another dimension known as Spotworld.
In Marvel’s video history, Spot first appears in a self-titled episode of Spider-Man (1994), voiced by Oliver Muirhead. This version of Spot was a scientist who originally worked for Tony Stark until Venom and Carnage stole his experiments. Even though he was by no means a high-ranking villain, Spot managed to rise to the position of the main antagonist in Across the Spider-Verse. Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller revealed that producer Avi Arad had originally approached them with the idea when asked why they chose Spot for the role.
Who voices The Spot in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?’
In June 2022, the directors of Across the Spider-Verse officially announced that the main antagonist of Across the Spider-Verse would be Jonathan Ohnn/the Spot, and he will be voiced by the famous actor and musician Jason Schwartzman. They also pulled the curtain to reveal the Spot’s initial look that same month.
Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson’s 1998 film Rushmore. Since then, he has appeared in several other Anderson films. His most well-known works include the television series Bored to Death (2009–11) and Fargo (2020), and films Shopgirl (2005), Marie Antoinette (2006), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
Schwartzman has also previously voiced several animated characters including Ash Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Simon Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation (2010), Dash in My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2016), and Jesper in Klaus (2019). Schwartzman will be next seen in Asteroid City as Augie Steenbeck, in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, and in Megalopolis and Queer in currently unannounced roles.