Alfred Molina confirms Doc Ock’s Spider-Man return

Alfred Molina’s performance as Otto Octavius is an all-timer, with the actor bringing both humor and pathos to the villainous role. And it sounds like Molina has again donned the terrifying tentacles, reprising the role for Spider-Man: No Way Home opposite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.

Rumors of Molina’s return circulated last year, and while both Sony and Marvel haven’t confirmed his participation, Molina himself has been discussing Doc Ock’s return.

Speaking to Variety, Molina said: “When we were shooting it, we were all under orders not to talk about it, because it was supposed to be some great big secret. But, you know, it’s all over the internet. I actually described myself as the worst kept secret in Hollywood.”

Molina first played the character in Sam Raimi sequel Spider-Man 2, and says he relished the return, though admits the homecoming came with its own set of challenges: “It was very interesting going back after 17 years to play the same role, given that in the intervening years, I now have two chins, a wattle, crow’s feet and a slightly dodgy lower back.”

Doc Ock’s story will apparently pick up where the 2004 film left him in the East River, with director Jon Watt using de-ageing technology to take nearly two decades off the actor.

“I don’t have the same physicality that I had 17 years ago” explains Molina. “That’s just a fact. I then remembered that it’s the tentacles that do all the work… the arms are doing all the killing and smashing and breaking. It was fantastic.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home is set to hit the screen this December, and Doc Ock won’t be the only villain making a return, with Jamie Foxx’s Electro – last seen in 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 – also rumored to be rearing his translucent head.

Feature image courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing.