Why Unicorn In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Sounds Familiar

Halfway through season 1 and "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" has been gladly drafting its supporting characters and villains from all corners of Marvel Comics. Peter Parker's (Hudson Thames) best friend Nico Minoru (Grace Song) is from "The Runaways," and his schoolboy crush isn't Mary Jane Watson or Liz Allan — it's Pearl Pangan (Cathy Ang). In the comics, Pearl is a recently-introduced water-themed superhero named Wave. Time will tell if her animated self takes on that identity, or if Nico will become a sorcerer. 

The people who do have super-abilities are the series villains, the latest one being Unicorn/Mila Masaryk. True to her name, she can blast an energy beam from a helmet she wears. In this version, the weapon is supplied by Doctor Otto Octavius (Hugh Dancy). Complementing the Unicorn imagery, Mila wears her hair in a mane-like mohawk. 

In the comics, Unicorn is a minor Iron Man Villain, not to mention a man named Milos Masaryk. The original version of the character was a Soviet Agent turned mob enforcer. Early "Iron Man" comics really leaned on Cold War propaganda, so most of Tony Stark's early villains — including a pre-redemption Black Widow, stringing along a naive Hawkeye — were Russians. "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" skips the spy backstory for Mila, but she is part of a four-person gang of Russian criminals. These include Dmitri Smerdyakov, the future Chameleon, and Mikhail Sytsevich, father of Alexei Sytsevich/The Rhino. 

Even through the Russian accents, you may recognize their voices. Chameleon is played by Roger Craig Smith, aka Ezio Auditore from "Assassin's Creed" and a frequent voice of Captain America in past Marvel cartoons. Mikhail's voice belongs to Travis Willingham, famous for his parts on "Critical Role" and as Colonel Roy Mustang in "Fullmetal Alchemist" — Willingham has also played Thor several times alongside Smith's Cap. The fourth member of the crew, Roxanna Volkov, is played by Kari Wahlgren, a highly prolific voice actor. Her past Marvel credits include Amora The Enchantress in "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Emma Frost in "Wolverine & The X-Men," and Aunt May in this very series. 

As for Mila herself? Her actor doesn't have quite as stacked a resume, but there's one very famous part on it. In "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man," Unicorn is voiced by Sarah Natochenny — that's right, Ash Ketchum from "Pokémon" himself!

The "Pokémon" anime adapts the original video games, a long-running RPG series where you capture, train and battle magical Pocket Monsters. Ash was the original protagonist of the anime, debuting in 1997 and finally retiring from the series in 2023. In "Pokémon Journeys," Ash finally became the very best, like no-one ever was, so it was time for "Pokémon Horizons" to follow new young leads.

Natochenny played Ash for 17 years, but she was not his original voice. For starters, in the original Japanese audio track, Ash is voiced by Rica Matsumoto. For the first eight seasons, "Pokémon" was dubbed into English by the New York voiceover studio 4Kids Entertainment, featuring Veronica Taylor as Ash. In 2006, The Pokémon Company directly took over dubbing duties and recast; enter Sarah Natochenny as Ash. As she recalled to Crunchyroll:

"This was my first animation dubbing. I didn't know what I was doing. At my audition, I had no idea what dubbing was. All I knew was that acting was my basic skill, talent, and passion and I happened to be able to apply it to 'Pokemon.'"

Obviously, the recast came with controversy; the new voices definitely threw me for a loop when I was eight-years-old. That reflexive backlash made Natochenny feel discouraged. "The reaction I got when I first started ... You're doing what you love and you finally book your first huge role on a show that you loved as a child and people are like 'You're terrible,'" she told Crunchyroll. "That's really painful to experience." 

By the "Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl" series, though, the flames had died down and she came into her own. She didn't begin Ash Ketchum's journey, but she helped bring it to a fitting close. It helps that Natochenny is very passionate about "Pokémon" and playing Ash. She even has a cat named Pikachu (who doesn't shoot Thunderbolts, unfortunately), and she considers Ash's own pet "probably the greatest animated creature ever drawn."

As for her new part as Unicorn, Natochenny is Russian-American herself, and Russian is her first language. (She previously dubbed the lead in the anime "Alya Sometimes Hides her Feelings in Russian," about a Russo-Japanese girl.) That alone makes her a natural pick for the Russian Unicorn, and she's further praised "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" for "cinematically [reflecting] the NYC I was born and raised in."

On a personal note: @MrJeffTrammell created a Spiderman series that cinematically reflects the NYC I was born and raised in. His team elevated the art of animation with gorgeous movement and a sick soundtrack. I can't believe I get to work on another nostalgic, dream show. 💙💙 pic.twitter.com/PQrI5fcpr2

— Sarah Natochenny 🥸 (@sarahnatochenny) January 30, 2025

"Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is streaming on Disney+.