Two-time Marvel star Karan Soni is going into the Spider-Verse. The actor, who played cab driver Dopinder opposite Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool and Deadpool 2, is the latest to join the voice cast of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Soni will play Pavitr Prabhakar — a.k.a. Spider-Man India, the superhero of fictional city Mumbattan — who in the comics is an alternate-universe version of Peter Parker hailing from Earth-50101. (A new look at Spider-Man India was revealed last week by the film’s line of Funko Pop figures.) One Take News first reported Soni’s role, and the casting was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter.
Along with Fox-Marvel’s Deadpool and Deadpool 2, Soni’s credits include Safety Not Guaranteed, Betas, Other Space, The Goldbergs, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, and Sony’s Ghostbusters reboot. Soni’s voice work includes Trolls 2: World Tour, Trolls Holiday in Harmony, The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib, and Strange World.
Soni joins a cast that includes returning Spider-Verse stars Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez as Miles’ parents, and Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker.
Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight), who voiced Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 in a post-credits scene ending 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, reprises his role alongside newcomers Issa Rae (The Lovebirds) as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, Daniel Kaluuya (Black Panther) as Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk, Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as NYPD Captain George Stacy, and The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) as the Medieval Vulture.
Reads the synopsis for Sony Pictures Animation’s next chapter of the Spider-Verse saga: “After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. 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.”
“When you’re growing up, there’s that feeling that you want to see what the world has to offer. You want to go out there, and the push-and-pull of wanting to stay rooted with your family and then also [needing to] leave the nest is what the whole movie is about,” producer and co-writer Christopher Miller explained during a trailer reveal panel with co-writer and producer Phil Lord. “And so the first movie was about the idea that anyone can wear the mask. This movie is really about: how do you wear the mask?”
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings into theaters June 2nd from Sony Pictures.
