Many actors could have taken on the role of Doctor Otto Octavius in 2004's Spider-Man 2, but filmmaker Sam Raimi made the best choice possible with Alfred Molina.
The actor made Doctor Octopus his own, and his take on the villain is still considered one of the best comic book supervillains to have graced the big screen. While his story reached a definitive end in Spider-Man 2's closing moments—when Otto regained his senses and sacrificed himself to save Peter Parker and New York—he returned in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Pulled into Earth-616 moments before his demise, Doc Ock initially clashed with Tom Holland's web-slinger. Fortunately, his mind was cured, and Otto later helped the Spider-Men turn the tide against Green Goblin, Electro, Sandman, and The Lizard on the Statue of Liberty.
Variety recently spoke with Molina, and was asked whether the door is open to him reprising his most iconic role in a future Spider-Man movie.
"Who knows? When I did 'Spider-Man 2' for Sam Raimi back in 2004, I remember at the time they had me on a three-movie option," the actor revealed. "The contract said that should they choose to renew that option, they had the right to bring me back. When I shot the scene where Octavius dies and sacrifices himself, I said to the producers, 'Well, I guess my option is null and void.'"
"But Avi Arad, who was running Marvel at the time, said, 'Well, no one really dies in this universe.' So I thought, 'Oh, OK,' but I didn’t think it would be 17 years before I did it again. Then, when they asked me to come back, I remember saying to Amy Pascal, 'I’ve got crow’s feet. I’ve got a double chin. I’m not a youngster anymore,' and the director, Jon Watts, said, 'Don’t worry, we can fix all of that with technology.'"
"So I jumped in, and 'No Way Home' was great fun. Now if it comes up, I don’t know what the future holds," Molina continued. "I think we might have to just leave Doc Ock in a nice, prominent place in the rogues’ gallery of villains, but honestly, if they came knocking on my door and said we’d love you to do it again, I would do it again, no doubt. I doubt if it’ll happen, though."
Asked if he's excited about Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Molina replied, "Yeah. I love those movies. I honestly don’t know too much about the new one. I’m not even sure who the villain is." In fairness, neither are we! The Scorpion and Tombstone are thought to be the most likely candidates.
While we don't anticipate seeing any of Spider-Man: No Way Home's sinister villains in the immediate future, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are expected to reteam with Holland in the not-too-distant future. That could happen as soon as next December's Avengers: Secret Wars.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31.