SpongeBob SquarePants voice actor says the character is 'autistic' and 'that’s his superpower'

"SpongeBob's kind of on the spectrum too as a character," he said at the 2024 Motor City Comic Con in Detroit.

Voice actor Tom Kenny is sharing his thoughts on what he thinks his character SpongeBob SquarePants’ "superpower" is.

As captured in a video shared to ToonHive's Twitter account, while speaking recently at the 2024 Motor City Comic Con in Detroit, Kenny opened up about the first time he spoke about SpongeBob's neurodivergence with a fan.

"SpongeBob's kind of on the spectrum too as a character," he told the cheering crowd. "It was the first time I'd ever been asked this question — a person who was obviously on the spectrum came up to me and said, 'I have a question for you, Tom Kenny. Is SpongeBob autistic? Is SpongeBob himself autistic as a character?'"

He recalled telling the fan, "'Of course!'" Then, he continued, "I said, 'You know what? That's his superpower, the same way that's your superpower.'"

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This isn't the first time Kenny has spoken publicly about his thoughts on the character's neurodivergence, though. He previously said on Marc Maron's WTF podcast in 2012, "I don't know what there is in that show that talks to kids that are on the autism spectrum, but more than other cartoons... because SpongeBob as a character is a little autistic. Obsessed with his job, very hardworking, gets really, really deep into something."

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Kenny has voiced the title character since the beloved animated show first began airing in 1999. In 2019, Kenny said in an Entertainment Weekly oral history celebrating the show's 20th anniversary that he's always felt close to the character.

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"I felt like I just got [SpongeBob]," he said at the time. "Steve [Hillenburg, series creator] did such a good job with it. Everything was right there. You go, 'Oh, I know this guy. I can embody this guy.' I feel like there's some shared DNA between me and this character. We've all felt that way. That's part of Steve's brilliance. He seemed to be pretty sure of his decisions once he made them, and couldn't be dissuaded."

And, he shared his thoughts on the show's legacy and his joy at being a part of it 20 years later, saying, "SpongeBob is one of the last remaining super-visual cartoons. There's just not a whole lot of shows like that anymore. In some ways, I feel like I'm working in this time-machine job. Like working on a radio show or Looney Tunes. It's pretty cool that we're still able to be employed as milkmen in 2019."

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.