Pavitr Prabhakar was undoubtedly one of the breakout stars of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. In the movie, his Mumbattan world on Earth-50101 is colorful, energetic, and inviting. It was clearly a mashed up version of Mumbai and Manhattan, yet it felt like something wholly unique and different than any of the other Spider-homeworlds we experienced in the movie. Above all else, Pavitr’s new costume was one of the coolest (along with the movies other breakout character, Spider-Punk) designs introduced for a character already established in the comics.

With all of this excitement around the character built up, I was very interested to see what direction the creative team on Spider-Man India took to reintroduce the character and his world on page. Unfortunately, the debut issue out today from Nikesh Shukla and Abhishek Malsuni came off like a recycled version of the 2005 series that first introduced the character.

Evil businessman looking to raze a neighborhood? Check.

Doctor who is transformed into a generic alternate version of one of the most common Spider-Man villains? Check.

If the title wasn’t Spider-Man India and the characters had no names, I’m not sure I would have known where I was supposed to be. We don’t even start in India! The story starts in New York on Earth-616 and we’re reintroduced to Pavitr while he’s fighting alongside Peter Parker and Miles Morales. For some reason we needed two of the most popular Spider-Men to support Pavitr? In addition, and similar to the first series, the coloring of the characters looked as though they were caucasians with weird sunburns. And aside from some references to Indian food in the early pages and a unique version of Mysterio (which even Pavitr referes to as cultural appropriation), the issue lacked a connection to Indian culture that was tangible in the first series.

Beyond those missed opportunities, there was also a moment in the book when one of the villains seemingly pulled the wool over Pavitr without even a blink of the eye. Where was his Spider-sense? Knowing that this is only a four-part limited series, it felt like a lazy way to move the plot along.

Overall, the issue felt like a rushed, generic ‘Spider-Man X’ story. Though at least it didn’t feel like a complete cash grab from Marvel since they stayed AWAY from the film version of Pavitr? Honestly, it would have been more enjoyable if they had gone the easy route.

Spider-Man India #1 Swings…and Misses

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