Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 introduces The Spot as its main villain. Though this obscure character generally plays for laughs in most comic book appearances going back to his debut in the 1980s, he presents an intriguing challenge for Spider-Man. Comic book fans know The Spot is uniquely positioned as a villain in the multiverse thanks to his extra-dimensional powers.
The Spot's powers connect him to a dimension that likely allows him to move around in the multiverse of the upcoming animated sequel. His comic book past also hints at interesting connections to The Kingpin and other villains. The Spot served on numerous supervillain teams in Marvel Comics, typically alongside other lesser-known characters like The Kangaroo, many of whom could appear in the movie.
The Spot's unique powers derive from The Spotted Dimension. This pocket dimension exists outside normal reality and The Spot can move in and out of it to any point in space. He's also able to send objects through the dimension as well.
His exposure to the dimension leaves his trademark 'spots' across his body, which he can move around at will. He's also able to sling these spots, really small portals to The Spotted Dimension, off his body and apply them to other people or objects.
The Spot first appears in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97, among the best 1980s Spider-Man comic books. He begins as Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, a scientist working for The Kingpin. His initial objective seeks to reproduce the superpowers of Cloak, who can teleport back and forth to the Darkforce Dimension, a dim
These experiments go wrong, leading to The Spot's powers and condition. The Kingpin served as the main villain in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Spot could appear in the sequel as an employee for Wilson Fisk, either in Miles' universe or another.
The Spot initially fights Spider-Man when his experiment causes a blackout in New York City. At the time, Spider-Man worked closely with Black Cat, and the two confronted The Spot. Things didn't get off to a great start as Spider-Man laughed out loud at The Spot's name.
The Spot traditionally ranks among Spider-Man's lamest comic book villains, a sentiment largely borne from this early encounter. Despite this, The Spot defeated Spider-Man and Black Cat rather easily in their first battle thanks to his unique powers.
Spider-Man brings a key advantage to most every battle with his Spider-Sense, giving him a warning of impending danger. The Spot surprises Spider-Man and fans both in their first battle by not triggering his Spider-Sense at all.
The Spot's ability to move in and out of The Spotted Dimension dislocates him from reality and as a result, proves immune to Spider-Sense. This gives The Spot an enormous advantage in their battles, as The Spot can throw punches through the dimension Spider-Man can anticipate.
The Spot's comic book reputation suffers somewhat for his association with the Spider-Man Revenge Squad, better known as the Legion of Losers. This team includes lesser-known villains like Grizzly, Kangaroo, and Gibbon.
Comic book fans know the Sinister Six forms to give individual members a better chance against Spider-Man and the Legion of Losers comes together for the same reason. The outcome unfolds similarly, with the Losers going down relatively easily.
In the early 2000s, The Spot joined another supervillain team called MODOK's 11. This squad assembled to steal a powerful weapon called the Hypernova in a quest that plays like a riff on Ocean's 11, one of the best heist movies ever made.
The Spot abandons the team as they try to escape with the Hypernova. In retaliation, the villain The Temugin traps The Spot in The Spotted Dimension. He remains there for some time before eventually escaping and continuing to wreak havoc in Earth-616.
The Spot plays a role in Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, one of the best Spider-Man comic book storylines. The Spot remains active as a villain in an alternate reality where most villains have lost their powers thanks to The Regent.
Peter Parker and Mary Jane remain married in this reality and have a daughter who becomes Spider-Girl. A Spider-Girl variant fights The Spot in the animated series Marvel's Spider-Man and given all the variants in the Spider-Verse movies, it's likely this happens in the sequel as well.
The Spot potentially joins another key supervillain team in the upcoming sequel. A Sinister Six may form in the movie and The Spot did serve on one iteration in the comics. He joined the Sinister Sixteen in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #12.
The team once again includes primarily lower-tier Spider-Man villains, including Boomerang, the Beetle, Overdrive, and the Speed Demon. The team breaks up before accomplishing anything significant and The Spot goes back to relative obscurity in the comics.
The Spot also fought in Civil War, among the most important Marvel Comics events ever. He joined a supervillain army organized by Hammerhead, another Spider-Man villain after The Kingpin was arrested and created a power vacuum in the criminal underworld.
Hammerhead brought together numerous lower-tier villains like The Spot and Kangaroo to enforce his new criminal empire, but it didn't last very long. Iron Man and the heroes adherent to the Superhuman Registration Act broke the army up almost immediately.
A Spot variant exists in Earth-1610, the Ultimate Comics universe. This version differs from the Earth-616 version slightly in his origin and look. The Ultimate Spot's appearance proves more inky and messy, which seems to have inspired his animated look somewhat.
His powers come from an experiment, but he doesn't work for Kingpin in this iteration. The Ultimate Spot works for the Roxxon Corporation, a business that plays a role throughout Marvel comics, animation, and live-action.
Marvel Comics fans know The Spot is an unusual but fun Spider-Man villain, and now he'll be the villain for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse 2.Darby Harn