Karan Soni (Deadpool franchise) has been tapped to play Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Deadline can confirm.
The actor joins a stacked voice ensemble led by Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, which also includes Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Issa Rae, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, Jason Schwartzman and Daniel Kaluuya, as previously announced.
Across the Spider-Verse is Sony’s follow-up to its experimental feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which grossed over $384M worldwide and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2019.
Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, Into the Spider-Verse watches as the teenage Miles Morales (Moore) becomes the Spider-Man of his universe, then joining with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat to all realities.
Across the Spider-Verse will transport Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood full-time webslinger across the Multiverse. He’ll again join forces in the new film with Gwen Stacy (Steinfeld), while working with a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they’ve ever encountered.
First introduced to Marvel Comics in 2004, Spider-Man India came of age in the South Asian country as Pavitr Prabhakar, beginning to fight crime after gaining his spidey powers from an ancient yogi. The character’s story arc mirrors that of Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) in most respects.
Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos and Kemp Powers are directing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, from a script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and David Callaham. Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Lord, Miller and Christina Steinberg are producing, with Ramsey and Persichetti returning to exec produce alongside Aditya Sood. Pic is slated for release on June 2.
Best known for his role as Dopinder in the Deadpool films, based on Marvel’s comic book character of the same name, Soni has more recently appeared in films including The People We Hate at the Wedding and Four Samosas, among others. He also currently stars in the TBS comedy Miracle Workers, which returns for its fourth season this year.
While Deadpool 3 is coming up on its production start date, whether Soni will return for the newest installment in the franchise is not yet clear. News of his Spider-Verse casting was first reported by One Take News.