Karan Soni

Pavitr Prabhakar keeps talking through the commotion in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), and Karan Soni makes that persistence a pleasure. His voice gives the character a confidence that does not need anyone else’s approval. We laughed most during the sequence in Pavitr’s city, because Soni’s running chatter keeps pace with images already crowded with things to notice. The film sometimes wears us down with explanations of its rules, but here the talk is funny enough to justify itself.

The awkwardness was already familiar from Dopinder, Soni’s cab-driver in Deadpool (2016), which brought him wider recognition. The character’s earnest fandom makes awkward enthusiasm part of the joke, and Soni supplies the warmth that makes it work. He returned to the role in Deadpool 2 (2018). These supporting appearances make good use of his comic timing, though they leave limited space for anything else. The danger is being asked to repeat a manner that already works.

For Pavitr, Soni drew on Bollywood-star mannerisms, giving the voice an easy assurance. Editor Michael Andrews helps the performance land by keeping the eye moving clearly through crowded frames. Patrick O’Keefe’s production design makes the city’s mixture of Mumbai and Manhattan distinct enough to recognise at a glance. That clarity leaves us free to enjoy the chatter, without struggling to work out where we are.

The move towards leading parts in independent films, with 7 Days (2021) and A Nice Indian Boy (2024), is encouraging. Soni also wrote 7 Days, while A Nice Indian Boy was co-developed with its director, Roshan Sethi. These are opportunities to let his warmth carry a story for longer than a supporting slot allows, and to find out what happens when the other characters have to keep up with him. Start with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for the timing; the leading roles are the direction we would like him to keep taking.