Spider-Man (India)

Better keep Spider-UK away from this one, lest Billy get the idea to steal all his stuff. Spider-Man India, otherwise known as Pavitr Prabhakar, joins to fight together with Miles Morales. Unlike the Spider People who gained their powers from being bitten by a spider, the carefree Spider-Man India gained his from a shaman. Also unlike the other Spider-People, Pavitr Prabhakar was not created by Marvel. In 1997, a bunch of American businessmen founded Gotham Entertainment Group to secure the relatively untapped comicbook market in India. They signed licensing deals with lots of big companies, and began reprinting existing titles in multiple local languages. In 2004, they published Spider-Man: India, a retelling of the standard Spidey origin story, just set in Mumbai instead of New York. It was done with Marvel's permission, of course, and so Marvel owns the idea, but the fact remains that he wasn't a homegrown creation. Pav was drastically redesigned for Across the Spider-Verse. His comic costume was basically the standard Spidey suit with bare hands and baggy dhoti pants - if you wanted to customize one yourself, Fei Long's legs would be a good starting point. The movie's version, though, is way, way cooler. It keeps the pants, but redesigns the suit that goes under them, making it more distinctly Asian-inspired than just the same 1960s Ditko look. There are artistic patterns on his arms, he wears lots of bangles, and the spider symbols on his chest and back have their own unique designs. This looks like a distinct character, while still retaining the essential "Spider-Man"-ness he needs. The stylization of the mask, particularly the white "tusks" on his cheeks, is inspired by the intricate facepaint worn during Theyyam rituals. Although he does maintain a secret identity, this figure inclues an unmasked Pavitr head. The Hasbro figure had the same thing, so it's not too weird, and we did see a lot of his exposed face in his origin flashbacks. The character was voiced in the movie by Karan Soni, who you probably know best as Dopinder from Deadpool, except that this time he wasn't asked to play up his accent. Speaking of Deadpool, Spider-Man India has one of the most unique features we can remember ever seeing on an action figure. We're all used to Japanese imports that have swappable faces, but the masked head on this figure gets swappable eyes! You can pop the lenses out of the mask and replace them with a second version where the eye is a bit more squinty. (Thus, "Deadpool.") The difference between the regular and standard ones could really have stood to be exaggerated a bit more, because it's hard to notice the change unless you have one of each in the mask. Because of the way his hair hangs over his face, the entire thing is removable on the masked head - but not on the unmasked one, because that doesn't need to swap anything. SH Figuarts typically have terrific articulation, and Spider-India isn't going to be the one to break that trend. He has a barbell head, balljoint neck, pectoral balljoints, barbell shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, barbell chest, balljoint waist, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, swivel/hinge/swivel ankles, and hinged toes. So much movement! And all of it done well, done smartly. We do wish Figuarts came with a display stand the way Figma does, to lift him into the air. Pavitr's movement was based on Kalaripayattu, a native Indian martial art that's thousands of years old and focuses a lot on flexibility - if you've ever played Soulcalibur, it's the same fight style Voldo uses. The figure includes seven pairs of hands in various poses, as well as an alternate right forearm. Why that? Because instead of just regular webslinging, Pavitr fights with a yo-yo on a string; and when he's not using it as a yo-yo, he wears it on his right arm like a large bracelet. That wouldn't work too well as a real thing at this scale, so we get one arm with it on and one arm with it off. The actual yo-yo included with this toy is done as two pieces, which are capable of plugging onto the five included weblines: that way it looks much more dynamic than a solid piece would. the lines are different lengths and shapes, so there's a lot of variety to be had in displaying him. All the promotional shots of this figure showed it posed in front of a Spider-themed mandala, which isn't something included in the package, just a fancy backdrop decoration for the stock photos. Hasbro made a Marvel Legend Pavitr Prabhakar in their second Across the Spider-Verse series, and while it too comes with an unmasked head, alternate hands, and even a yo-yo resting on a string, it can't compare to this Figuarts version. Of course, it also costs only about a quarter as much, so the tradeoff might be worth it. The movie's Spider-Man of India is far better than the original comics version, but if you want the best possible toy of him, you'll have to pay import prices. -- 04/21/25 Would you want a comic-based Spider-Man India figure? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.