Who Is Spider-Man: India? Pavitr Prabhakar Origin Story & Powers Explained (2024)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Pavitr Prabhakar, a.k.a. Spider-Man, debuted in 2023's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as a new variant of the titular web-slinger. The sequel to 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse released on June 2, 2023, introducing many new versions of Spider-Man from across the multiverse, including a lot of familiar faces from past adaptations in film, TV, animation, and video games. Whereas Into the Spider-Verse saw Miles Morales joined in his own universe by several interdimensional Spider-People, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sent Miles on a reality-hopping adventure of his own, with his first stop being the universe of Pavitr Prabhakar.

Pavitr Prabhakar debuted in Marvel Comics' 2004-05 miniseries Spider-Man: India, taking place on Earth-50101, which saw Prabhakar gain spider-like powers similar to Earth-616's Peter Parker. Whereas the Marvel Comics characters resides in Mumbai, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse depicted Pavitr as the protector of the fictional city of Mumbattan, a portmanteau of Mumbai and Manhattan. Pavitr's Spider-Man is expected to appear in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse following his explosive introduction in Across the Spider-Verse, so the 2024 sequel could develop his character even further and reveal more about this mysterious new Spider-Man.

Pavitr Prabhakar's Origin In Marvel Comics Explained

Introduced in Spider-Man: India #1, released in November 2004, Pavitr Prabhakar was a poor boy living in a remote Indian village who moves to Mumbai with his Aunt Maya and Uncle Bhim. Thanks to his half scholarship, Pavitr attends a good school but is bullied by the other students there, only being befriended by Meera Jain, inspired by Earth-616's Mary Jane Watson. One day, while being chased by his bullies, Pavitr is met by an ancient yogi who grants him the powers of a spider so that he can take on threats to the world, dubbing himself Spider-Man.

Pavitr's origin story is wildly different from that of Peter Parker's Spider-Man, as Pavitr is granted his abilities through magic rather than the bite of a radioactive spider. However, other events during his time as the web-slinging hero are strikingly similar to his American counterpart. While discovering his new abilities, Pavitr refuses to help a woman being attacked by a group of men, only for his Uncle Bhim to help her instead and be stabbed in the process. Through this, Pavitr learns that with great power comes great responsibility, and he begins his career as the crime-fighting Spider-Man of Mumbai.

Related: Every Spider-Man Universe That Appears In Across The Spider-Verse

In his public debut as Spider-Man, Pavitr battled a version of Doctor Octopus who was a regular doctor transformed by Nalin Oberoi (Earth-50101's Norman Osborn) into a demonic being with four magical tentacles. Even though Oberoi, who had been possessed by a demon akin to the Green Goblin, was the real threat, newspapers labeled Spider-Man a criminal. Pavitr is even forced to briefly bond with a Venom-like demon but rejects the evil while remembering his Uncle Bhim's dying words, leading to Oberoi's incarceration and peace being brought back to Mumbai. Pavitr later appeared in both the Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon storylines in Marvel Comics, interacting with a variety of other Spider-People.

Pavitr Prabhakar's Powers In Marvel Comics Explained

Pavitr Prabhakar's Spider-Man powers mirror Peter Parker's powers, encompassing abilities similar to that of a spider. Pavitr can cling to solid surfaces, allowing him to climb walls with ease, and has the precognitive Spider-Sense that other Spider-Man variants also exhibit. Pavitr's strength, stamina, durability, balance, and speed have also been enhanced by his mystical Spider-Man abilities, and he also has a regenerative healing factor that means he can heal from wounds quicker than an average human. Much like his fellow Spider-People, Pavitr also has a genius-level intellect, which led to his creation of wrist-mounted web shooters and synthetic webbing.

How Pavitr Prabhakar Is Different In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse To Marvel Comics

Sony made several changes to Pavitr Prabhakar for his debut in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, not least changing his home from Mumbai into the fictional Mumbattan. The most notable changes to Pavitr in Across the Spider-Verse are in his appearance. In Marvel Comics, Pavitr's Spider-Man is shown to have a costume almost exactly resembling that of Peter Parker, though he sports linen trousers on his lower half instead of the typical full-body, skin-tight Spider-Man costume. In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, however, Pavitr's costume is much more vibrant, with brighter blues and pinks, as well as sporting blue trousers instead of gray, and his lengthy hair is visible outside his mask.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also shows Pavitr earning the affection of Gayatri, the daughter of Captain Singh, instead of Marvel Comics' Meera Jain, and the film neglects to explore his origin story in detail, as he has been operating as Spider-Man for six months already. Pavitr is a charismatic, energetic, and incredibly optimistic version of Spider-Man, who spends his time as Spider-Man saving Mumbattan from villains while also making sure he balances his personal life, too. Pavitr's Spider-Man is also a member of Across the Spider-Verse's Spider Society, a group of interdimensional Spider-People led by Miguel O'Hara, a.k.a. Spider-Man 2099.

Who Voices Pavitr Prabhakar In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's Pavitr Prabhakar is voiced by actor Karan Soni. Soni made his feature film debut in 2012's Safety Not Guaranteed and has gone on to appear in projects such as Betas, Office Christmas Party, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, and the 2019 TV series Miracle Workers. Soni is perhaps best known, however, for portraying Dopinder in Fox's Deadpool films opposite Ryan Reynolds, a role which he is set to reprise for 2024's Deadpool 3, set within the world of the MCU. Soni is also expected to return to voice Pavitr Prabhakar for 2024's Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

How Powerful Is Pavitr Prabhakar Compared To Other Spider-Man Variants?

Although Pavitr Prabhakar shares many powers with the other characters depicted in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, he stands out among his fellow Spider-People for one very vivid reason: he is far more positive than all of them. Pavitr has a refreshing outlook on life and his responsibilities as Spider-Man and is shown to have cultivated a strong and healthy relationship with Gayatri and her father, Captain Singh, and has managed to strike the perfect balance between his professional activities as Spider-Man and his personal life. He may not be more innately powerful than the other Spider-People, but his optimism and positive outlook make him a fantastic ally in battle.

How Across The Spider-Verse Sets Up Pavitr Prabhakar's Beyond The Spider-Verse Story

Earth-50101 is the first alternate reality that Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy visit in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse after Gwen tracks the villainous Spot to Pavitr's home universe. Although Miles, Gwen, Pavitr, and Hobart "Hobie" Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk, put up a strong fight against the Spot, they were unable to stop him from absorbing the energy of Earth-50101's supercollider but did manage to save every civilian in the way of the collapsing building. However, Miles' saving of Captain Singh broke a canon event in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, damaging the fabric of Pavitr's reality, though this damage is temporarily held back by the arrival of the Spider Society.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is scheduled for release on March 29, 2024, and is set to pick up after Across the Spider-Verse's epic cliffhanger ending. Spot poses a major threat to the entire multiverse, Pavitr's reality may be set for destruction, and Spider-Man 2099 is set on hunting down Miles to protect Spider-Man canon, all plotlines that will surely play a huge roll in the trilogy closer. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse could see Pavitr Prabhakar's universe crumble due to Miles Morales' breaking of a canon event in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, perhaps leading to Spider-Man: India becoming a much tougher version of the web-slinging hero.