Lesser-known Spider-Man villain, The Spot, will be the main threat throughout both Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, director Kemp Powers has revealed. Speaking with Total Film, Powers explained why he and his fellow filmmakers Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson decided to make the Z-list supervillain the main bad guy, declaring that, while he may at first seem like a joke, he possesses “incredible potential.”

"The Spot is an interesting villain because he seems like a joke, but when you really look at his powers, there’s incredible potential. His ability to open portals across dimensions sets him up perfectly for the Spider-Verse...He’s the villain of the next two films… and let’s just say that the Spot and Miles are connected in surprising ways."

Introduced in the pages of Spectacular Spider-Man back in the early ‘80s, The Spot is a more obscure member of the beloved superhero’s rogue's gallery. Created for Marvel Comics by Al Milgrom and Herb Trimpe, The Spot’s real name is Jonathan Ohnn, and he has the ability to access and manipulate interdimensional portals which become adhered to his skin as a result of, you guessed it, a lab accident. While the Marvel universe really needs to look again at its health and safety protocols, Ohnn’s newfound powers should come in very handy when tormenting Miles Morales and his Spider-Variant gang in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The Spot is all set to be voiced by Moonrise Kingdom and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star Jason Schwartzman, with the villain posing a major problem for Miles as his interdimensional portals “can send him anywhere he wants to go. He can also make these portals appear out of thin air to transport objects and people at will."

Related: Daniel Kaluuya Joins the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Cast as Spider-Punk

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Will Swing into Theaters Next Year

across-the-spiderverse
Sony Pictures

Director Joaquim Dos Santos previously offered further insight into why The Spot, despite not being an obvious choice for the main antagonist, was chosen. "Pretty early on we knew the Spot was going to be our main villain," he explained. "Without an awesome villain, who you sort of can understand with their through-line, you don't really have a strong story for your main character. So he's an awesome sort of opposite to Miles."

"After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man [Morales] is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence,” the new synopsis for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reads. “But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most."

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson in their feature directorial debuts, and from a screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Issa Rae, and Daniel Kaluuya.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is scheduled to be released on June 2, 2023, with another sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, set to be released on March 29, 2024.