SpongeBob SquarePants Is 'Autistic,' Says Voice Actor Tom Kenny: 'That’s His Superpower'

Tom Kenny is weighing in on what he thinks is SpongeBob SquarePants’ “superpower.”

At the 2024 Motor City Comic Con in Detroit, the famed voice actor explained that SpongeBob is autistic. During a Q+A session, a video posted by BigBlueGlasses on YouTube captured Kenny as he recalled the time he first revealed his character’s neurodivergence.

“SpongeBob's kind of on the spectrum too as a character,” he said. "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?’”

He recalled answering, “‘Of course!’” Then, he continued, “I said, ‘You know what? That's his superpower, the same way that’s your superpower.’”

The crowd cheered as Kenny offered this explanation, gathering support for his answer.

Kenny has previously spoken about SpongeBob having Autism, saying on Marc Maron's WTF podcast in October 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."

The SpongeBob cast has always been open about viewers' reactions to the show. In February, Carolyn Lawrence, who voices Sandy Cheeks, said her daughters have mixed opinions about it.

"I have two girls. My oldest never liked the show,” she admitted to PEOPLE at the time. "But my youngest, I still hear her giggling. She'll watch it, I can hear her laughing and laughing."

Kenny, who shares children Mack and Nora with wife Jill Talley, shared his own experience.

"My kids grew up with SpongeBob being both the family business and also the biggest thing in the world with their classmates,” he shared. “And maybe because our faces aren't in it, they were always able to enjoy SpongeBob as something separate and apart from their dumb old parents. That was really good."

Bill Fagerbakke, who is the voice behind Patrick Star, said he didn’t know if the Nickelodeon comedy was going to hit until he saw his kids react to it.

"That was the way I realized the pilot was as good as I thought it was," Fagerbakke said. "Because I knew nothing, I didn't get it when we recorded it, and then we got the pilot in the mail on a video cassette."

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He said his daughters Carson and Hannah, whom he shares with wife Catherine McClenahan, "were, at that time, 4 and 6. And I called them and I said, 'Watch this.' And they loved it."

"And I went, 'Yes, this is going to be fun.' I figured for a few months and then something else comes along, you hope. But 25 years later.”