Pavitr Prabhakar Spider-Man
Cover of Spider-Man: India #1 (2004) Art by Jeevan J. Kang.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Spider-Man: India #1 (2004)[1][2]
Created by	Jeevan J. Kang Suresh Seetharaman Sharad Devarajan
In-story information
Alter ego	Pavitr Prabhakar
Species	Human mutate
Place of origin	Mumbai/Mumbattan, India
Supporting character of	Meera Jain Uncle Bhim Aunt Maya
Abilities	Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, durability, and balance Ability to cling to solid surfaces Expert hand-to-hand combatant Acrobatics
Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media
Partnerships	Gayatri Singh (girlfriend) Inspector Singh (police chief) Spider-Woman Miles Morales Spider-Man Spider-Punk SP//dr Spider-Ham Spider-Man Noir

Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics in collaboration with Gotham Entertainment. Pavitr Prabhakar is an alternate version of Spider-Man who lives in Mumbai, India.^[3][4]

In the Marvel Comics universe, Spider-Man lives on Earth-50101. His secret identity is Pavitr Prabhakar, a shy high school student, who lives with his Aunt Maya and Uncle Bhim in Mumbai. He has many supporting characters in the books such as Meera Jain, Flash Thompson, Nalin Oberoi, and Doctor Octopus. He came to Mumbai from a small village. Although he and his uncle struggled with financial difficulties, his uncle wanted Pavitr to receive a high-quality education at the Heritage International School, one of the top schools in Mumbai.

Pavitr was often bullied and mocked in school due to coming from a small village and wearing a dhoti. A Yogi gives Pavitr the magical powers of a spider, which he uses to fight against Nalin Oberoi, an evil businessman who is searching for a powerful, magical amulet. In his search, Oberoi destroys Pavitr's village, killing everyone. As Spider-Man, Pavitr defeats Oberoi and hands him over to the police.^[5]

Pavitr "Pav" Prabhakar / Spider-Man India made his cinematic debut in the 2023 animated feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced by Karan Soni in English and Shubman Gill in Hindi and Punjabi, depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society.^[6] He will reappear in the film's sequel.

Publishing history

Pavitr Prabhakar first appeared in Spider-Man: India #1 (January 2005).^{[7][8][9][10][11]} Marvel created the Indian version in collaboration with Gotham Entertainment Group. Debdatta Das co-created this Indian version.^[12]

Fictional character biography

Pavitr Prabhakar, an Indian boy from a remote village, moves to Mumbai with the encouragement of his Aunt Maya and Uncle Bhim after receiving a partial scholarship to go to the Heritage International School, a prestigious academy. At school, he is frequently bullied for his rural background. His uncle encourages him to endure it and stay at the school because he has strong potential. A popular girl at the school, Meera Jain, befriends him after connecting over their shared history of moving to the city from a small village.

Meanwhile, a local crime lord named Nalin Oberoi uses an amulet to perform an ancient ritual in which he is possessed by a demon committed to opening a gate for other demons to invade Earth. While being chased by bullies, Pavitr encounters an ancient yogi who grants him the powers of a spider to fight the evil that threatens the world. Pavitr obtains the iconic Spider-Man costume and tests out his new abilities to create webs and stick to walls. While discovering his powers, Pavitr sees a woman being attacked by several men, but brushes it off, saying that the police would handle it. Unbeknownst to Pavitr, his uncle was in the area and attempts to help the woman, becoming fatally injured in the process. Pavitr hears his uncle cry out and rushes over, but by the time he gets there, it's too late. He finds the men who murdered his uncle, beating them before coming to his senses. Pavitr then understands that with great power comes great responsibility, and swears to use his powers for the good of others.^[7]

Nalin Oberoi briefly becomes human again and transforms a mild-mannered doctor into a demon with four magical tentacles (the Indian version of Doctor Octopus) and sends him to kill Spider-Man, as instructed by the demon voices. "Doc Ock" fails, and Spider-Man makes his public debut as a hero. The newspapers, however, label him as a threat.^[7]

Oberoi kidnaps Pavitr's aunt, taking her to a refinery outside Mumbai. There he betrays Doctor Octopus, blasting him into the ocean. Spider-Man arrives and fights Oberoi, who has also kidnapped Meera. He drops both Maya and Meera from the top of the refinery. Spider-Man dives for his aunt, but fails to rescue Meera, who is saved by Doctor Octopus. Pavitr reveals his identity to Meera and asks her to take his aunt to safety.^[7]

Oberoi gets rid of Doctor Octopus for good and touches Spider-Man with the amulet. A Venom-like creature emerges from the amulet and tries to lure Spider-Man to the dark side. Pavitr remembers his uncle's saying about responsibility and rejects the evil, shattering the link between the demons and Oberoi, and making Oberoi human again. Spider-Man throws the amulet into the ocean and Oberoi is sent to a mental institution.^[7]

Peace is eventually restored to Mumbai. Pavitr Prabhakar begins a romance with Meera and is shown celebrating the festival of Diwali with his aunt. The story ends with a quote from the Bhagavad Gita, showing the Venom-Demon still alive.^[7]

In other media

Reception

James Whitbrook of io9 placed Pavitr as number fourteen as the greatest alternate take of Spider-Man, explaining that he "shares much in common with the general Spider-Man legacy, but he's probably the best example of a foreign Spider-Man Marvel's ever attempted." Ryan Linch of Screen Rant placed Pavitr as number ten, saying that the character "has some really clever deviations from his American counterparts, but still retains everything that makes Spider-Man great."^[17][18]

References