For the film, they redesigned Spider-Man India's comic costume to make it more in tune with his cultural background.
This quote couldn't feel more relevant with the recent release of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, which not only features Miles Morales — the first Black-Latino Spider-Man — but several other culturally diverse Spider-Man characters.
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Although Hobie Brown (Spider-Man Punk) and Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099) have become instant fan favourites — and for good reason because they are compelling characters who were beautifully animated — there was another Spidey variant who I instantly fell in love with.
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His name? Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India. Being Indian myself, there were so many beautiful and relatable cultural references that made Pravitr a standout character for me. Here are some of my favourite details that I noticed.
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1. For starters, Pavitr's name is culturally significant. In Hindi, Pavitr can be translated to "pure" or "holy", while his last name "Prabhakar" means "light maker".
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I feel like that's a pretty spot-on name to describe Pavitr's down-to-Earth personality, as well as his responsibilities as a superhero to bring light when there is darkness.
2. In Across The Spider-Verse, Spider-Man India's costume has been redesigned from the original comics, making it more in tune with his cultural roots.
Marvel, Sony Pictures India / Via youtube.com
In the comics, Spider-Man India's costume consists of the iconic red and blue Spidey suit we all know, along with dhoti (baggy pants) and mojari (traditional Indian footwear that has an extended curled toe) being worn to give the character some spice. Meanwhile, in Across The Spider-Verse, the Indian touches to Pavitr's suit feel more cohesive. We still have the red and blue Spidey suit and the dhoti, but it's now accompanied by gold bangles and other stylistic markings on the costume that make it much more memorable. Like, THIS is the image I would think of if someone said Spider-Man India.
3. Speaking of Pavitr's costume, the hollow golden bangles are part of his version of web slingers. They're able to be shot out and used as weapons against enemies or tools to save people.
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The bangles could also potentially resemble a "damaru", which is a small two-headed drum found throughout India. In Hindusim, the damaru (also known as the power drum) is the instrument of Lord Shiva, a Hindu deity. When played, it is believed to generate spiritual energy. Shoutout toRaghav Raj Singh for pointing this out on Twitter!
4. And I know it's a small detail, but Pavitr's hair being loose and wavy is another callback to Indian culture.
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It can depend on the person, but Indian people generally have wavy or curly hair. Pavitr could have been given any hairstyle, so it's refreshing to see this small reference to what Indian hair actually looks like. Also, according to Pavitr, all it takes to get these wavy locks is "coconut oil, prayers, some genetics".
5. In the film, Pavitr is voiced by Karan Soni, an Indian-American actor who you might recognise from the Deadpool movies.
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It's so important to me that they actually got an Indian actor to voice Spider-Man India — because I just know that Karan understood the nuances of his character (especially since he was born in India) and how important this role is. Karan is also a huge fan of Into The Spider-Verse and even auditioned for Pavitr using Miles' monologue at the end of the first film where he says, "Anyone can wear the mask. You could wear the mask. If you didn't know that before, I hope you do now." ABSOLUTE BODY CHILLS! What a full-circle moment.
6. To ensure that the character of Spider-Man India was culturally specific enough, the Across The Spider-Verse team invited Karan into the writers' room to pitch ideas.
YouTube: Sony Global / Via youtube.com
According to Karan, Chris Miller and Phil Lord (the writers and co-producers of Across The Spider-Verse) were very collaborative and open to his suggestions, including the iconic "chai tea" moment.
7. During his character introduction, Spider-Man India mentions that he lives in Mumbattan, which is a portmanteau of Mumbai and Manhattan.
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If you're wondering why Mumbai and Manhattan, they do share some similarities. They're both densely populated and have been described as the financial and commercial capitals in their respective parts of the world. Plus, I think it was just another way to show the blend of Spider-Man's American influence with Pravitr's Indian background.
8. In scenes of Mumbattan, we can see rickshaws and various indicators of Indian architecture. Plus, Pavitr points out the traffic which, if you've ever been to India, you know how relatable that is.
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People, rickshaws, cars, scooters, kids, animals — all running about, but it's organised chaos.
9. Pravitr also swings by a street food stall to pick up a snack, which is a common practice in India.
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It's part of daily life in India to get some samosas orpakoras, or whatever's cooking from your local vendor — and it tastes so damn good.
10. And he also hilariously calls out the British for stealing all of India's jewels.
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Major side eye at the Royal family. Return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India!!!
11. When we get a closer look at Pavitr's home, we see that he's having chai with Maya auntie — and the order of words is very important here.
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In India, we would never say Aunt Maya, but instead Maya auntie. Just another small but significant reference to Indian culture, although I do wish they used "mausi" which means "aunt" in Hindi. Plus, I also need to point out that it looks like Maya auntie is wearing a salwar kameez, which is a common, everyday Indian outfit made up of a shirt/tunic, pants and scarf. Also, I'm preeeeettty sure I have a table in my parent's home that looks EXACTLY like the one in this scene.
12. And this is also where Pavitr calls out Miles for saying "chai tea" — because in Hindi, "chai" means "tea", so you're basically saying "tea tea".
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This is one of my FAVOURITE scenes because it's so hilarious and relatable. Let this be a warning to people who also say "naan bread".
13. During the action scenes with Pavitr, we see comic book style phrases that are written in Hindi pop up.
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I'm hopeless at reading Hindi, so I asked my mum to translate and she said the phrase is referencing a "burst" or "snap" sound effect, which makes sense in the context of the Spidey vs. Spot fight.
14. When Pavitr calls out Spot's stereotypical journey of enlightenment, which is one of the biggest clichés that happen when Westerners visit India.
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How many times have you heard of someone "finding themselves" after a trip to India? As Pavitr says, "Don't eat, pray, love me, bro."
15. And lastly, Spider-Man India's score which honestly slaps and sounds like something straight out of a Bollywood movie.
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Shoutout toDaniel Pemberton, who did the soundtrack for Across The Spider-Verse.
As we've seen time and time again, representation is so important — and I just know that there are going to be so many people watching who will look up to Spider-Man India and dare to dream big because of this character's inclusion in Across The Spider-Verse.
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Fingers crossed we get to see more of him in future Spidey films!
