Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus Will Return in ‘Spider-Man 3’
It’s not quite a full Sinister Six yet, but Tom Holland’s Spider-Man sure has his hands full.
Internet sleuths had already figured out that Jamie Foxx’s Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would return in Marvel and Sony’s third Spider-Man film — this one set in a totally different Spider-Man continuity from The Amazing Spider-Man, and featuring a totally different Spider-Man and supporting cast. Now it looks like another villain from yet another Spider-Verse will appear as well: Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, who first appeared in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 back in 2004.
That’s the word from The Hollywood Reporter, who suggest that the film may indeed tie all three Spider-Man movie franchises into a single universe:
Molina's involvement ties together three generations of Spider-Man movies. Jamie Foxx is returning as Electro after playing the role in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which starred Andrew Garfield as the wallcrawler, while Molina's Doc Oc terrorized Maguire's version of Spidey. In October, Foxx suggested in a since-deleted Instagram post that three different Spider-Men could appear in the film.
Molina is not the first actor from the Sami Raimi Spider-Man films to appear in the current franchise; Spider-Man: Far From Home ended with a cameo from J.K. Simmons, reprising his role as Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. The MCU’s Jonah was a bit different than the earlier version; this one was bald and hosted a talk show, as opposed to running a newspaper. It’s not clear yet whether Molina will be playing the MCU’s Doctor Octopus, or the exact same guy from the Raimi movies somehow transported to the MCU.
However they bring in Doc Ock, Molina’s interpretation of the character is probably the most popular Spider-Man villain in any of the movies to date. So his involvement is exciting news. Spider-Man 3 is scheduled to premiere in theaters on December 17, 2021.
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