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| The Spot | |
|---|---|
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | As unnamed man: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97 (December 1984) As Jonathan Ohnn / The Spot: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #98 (January 1985) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Johnathon Ohnn |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations |
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| Abilities |
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TheSpot is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, most often as an adversary ofSpider-Man andDaredevil. The character, created byAl Milgrom andHerb Trimpe, debuted inThe Spectacular Spider-Man #97 (1984). Known for his distinctive appearance—white skin covered in black, portal-like spots—the Spot's real name isDr. Jonathon Ohnn, a scientist who gained his powers through a botched experiment involving a portal to another dimension.
Dr. Ohnn's transformation occurred when he tried to recreate a teleportation system forKingpin. The experiment opened a portal to a dimension of space warps, but its instability forced Ohnn to leap inside. When he returned, his body had become a living conduit for these warps, with the spots acting as portable gateways. These spots allow the Spot to teleport himself, objects, or others across short or long distances, and even through dimensions.
The character appears in a silent cameo in the animated filmSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), and is voiced byJason Schwartzman in its sequelsSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and the upcomingSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027).
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Dr. Johnathon Ohnn first appeared unnamed inPeter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97 (December 1984) and became the Spot inPeter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #98 (January 1985).[1] He was created by writerAl Milgrom and artistHerb Trimpe. He then appeared in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June 2023) voiced byJason Schwartzman.
In an interview withBack Issue!, Milgrom discussed the character's creation, "As I recall, theKingpin wanted to find out howCloak's power, that would transport himself andDagger away whenever he chose, worked. I thought that it would be a cool idea if there were another character that could do that in another way like access that interdimensional-ity. Then I came up with the idea for The Spot. Then I imagined a visual for him. Herb Trimpe drew the issue, but I designed the visual on the character because I drew the cover first." "One of the things I visualized was the Warner Bros. cartoons withBugs Bunny.Elmer Fudd would be hunting him, and Bugs would go down the rabbit hole. Bugs would then move the hole like it was an extradimensional thing. That was kind of one of the inspirations for the character." "I have a sick sense of humor, so I came up with the name Johnathan Ohnn. My thinking was that he would be Johnny Ohnn the Spot" "Years after I created the Spot, I saw a rerun of anold Warner Bros. cartoon with amad scientist who had the same schtick that he could produce black holes," "He could put them anywhere and jump through them. I don't remember seeing the cartoon when I created the character, but after watching it years later, I said, 'Oh, my God, that's the Spot.' I may have inadvertently ripped off an old Warner Bros. cartoon. I might have seen it as a kid and had it in the back of my head somewhere."[2]
As a formerMIT scientist[3] working for theKingpin, Dr. Johnathon Ohnn is assigned to reproduce the abilities of the superheroCloak and creates a portal that transports him to another dimension. As he escapes, countless portals attach to his body.[4][5][6][7] When Spider-Man andBlack Cat arrive to confront Kingpin, Ohnn appears before them and warns the heroes to leave the Kingpin alone. He later loses a second battle against Spider-Man after being tricked into throwing too many of his spots as weapons, leaving him with not enough spots to defend himself with.[8]
The Spot forms a short-lived team withGibbon,Grizzly, andKangaroo called the Spider-Man Revenge Squad, better known as theLegion of Losers. This team falls apart when Spider-Man captures Spot and Kangaroo. Grizzly and Gibbon leave the group, disagreeing with their teammates' more ruthless approach.[9]
Some time later, the Spot is captured by an organization called the Gideon Trust and forced to open a portal to theNegative Zone. Gideon Trust intends to exploit the resources of the Zone for their own purposes, but is defeated by theFantastic Four.[10]
The Spot later helpsTombstone escape from a maximum security prison. In return, Tombstone snaps his neck.[11] Despite this, he reappears alive months later and arranges a meeting withSlyde. Both are upset at the reports ofHydra capturing or killing lesser-known supervillains. When the Spot arrives, both he and Slyde are captured by a brainwashedElektra. The two are recruited into Hydra's army and assault theS.H.I.E.L.D.helicarrier, but are taken out byWolverine.[12]
The Spot appears inMODOK's 11 as part of a team organized by the villain of the same name to steal a weapon/power-source called Hypernova. It is later revealed that Spot defected toTemugin in return for a larger paycheck. He abandons the team after they obtain the Hypernova; in response, Temugin traps him in the dimension he originally gained his powers from.[13]
InBrand New Day, the Spot is seen in the "Bar With No Name".[14] Later, he begins to kill members of theRussian mafia in revenge because his son was injured in a drive-by shooting and rendered comatose.[15]
During the "Dark Reign" storyline, the Spot is one among many supervillains who join theHood's crime syndicate. It is later revealed he is serving as amole forMister Negative under the promise that he will be cured once the Maggia crime families are killed.[16]
Later, the Spot works with a man to kidnap the little girl of a mafia family during the wedding of her family and another mafia family, but the abduction is foiled byDaredevil. The Spot is captured and has his powers replicated by Coyote, a minion of an unknown figure trying to bring Daredevil down.[17][18]
Boomerang andOwl hire the Spot into theSinister Sixteen, assembled to distract theChameleon's forces while Boomerang steals from him.[19]
As part of the 2016Marvel NOW!, the Spot kidnapsJessica Jones by punching her to an unknown van.[20] The Spot later appears as a member of the Sinister Six and accompanies the group in their mission to steal a decommissioned Helicarrier.[21]
During the "Last Remains" arc, the Spot is used by MayorWilson Fisk andNorman Osborn to power Project Blank and trapKindred. Project Blank was inspired by theDarkforce dome that was used to surround Manhattan duringHydra's takeover of the United States.[22]
Using his space warps, the Spot can instantly move himself or any part of his body from one area to another over a theoretically unlimited distance via another dimension nicknamed "Spotworld". The Spot can control and manipulate the warps to almost any degree he wishes. He can expand or shrink them to any size, or he can join together multiple spots to form onelarger warp. The spots are unaffected by gravity and can be placed against a surface or left suspended in mid-air. He can also designate which spots will lead to the spot dimension from those that will instantly lead to another location in this dimension. He can create new spots, or close them entirely by retreating into his dimension and pulling the warp in behind him. By concentrating, he used to be able to revert to his human appearance. When doing this, the spots merged to form one large black void in his chest, though this was easily covered with a shirt. The number of space warps the Spot can throw is limited however, since he primarily draws on the ones on his own body. Spider-Man defeated the Spot when his body was mostly white. His preferred method of attack is to surround his opponent with numerous spots, allowing him to punch or kick them from unexpected angles across great distances. This proved effective against Spider-Man as his spider-sense was unable to detect all of the incoming attacks. The Spot can also move the spots on his body to protect himself from physical attack by positioning one in the path of a punch or kick, causing the attack to pass harmlessly through a warp. Due to Spot's connection to "Spotworld", he appears to possess a form of immortality, being able to survive decapitation and reconstitute his body if killed.
An alternate universe version of the Spot from Earth-18119 appears inAmazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows.[23]
An alternate universe version of the Spot from Earth-2149 appears inMarvel Zombies: Dead Days.
An original incarnation of the Spot from Earth-1610 appears in theUltimate Marvel universe. This version is aRoxxon employee who gained his powers from a workplace accident. Additionally, the spots on his body continuously flow around his body like alava lamp.[24]
An alternate universe version of Spot from Earth-6160 appears inUltimate Spider-Man: Incursion. This version gained his powers from a stolen Stark Box that was intended to be given toTyrone Johnson.[25]
Dr. Johnathon Ohnn / The Spot appears inSony'sSpider-Verse trilogy, voiced byJason Schwartzman.[31][26]
The Spot appears as a playable character inMarvel: Future Fight.[36]
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