Last April, Spider-Man 2 star Alfred Molina confirmed he would return as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That wouldn't have been the end of the world, of course, but the actor proceeded to reveal he was playing the same Doc Ock we saw back in 2004 and that he would be de-aged by Marvel Studios.
Those were two major plot details, and the actor has now confirmed those comments landed him in hot water with Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.
During a recent interview with Radio Times, Molina was asked if he could return as the reformed villain after being sent back to his own reality at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
"I can neither confirm nor deny," he stated. "That's the official line. I got into a bit of trouble over the last iteration because I happened to let the cat out of the bag quite innocently."
"Just accidentally, I was talking to a journalist who said, 'So, you know, how's the Spider-Man movie going?' And I went, 'Oh, great thanks'. Then literally the next day, Variety was like, 'Alfred Molina reveals Doc Ock returns.' And I got into such trouble."
"I was getting phone calls from Amy Pascal, Kevin Feige was on the red carpet somewhere and somebody asked him about some Marvel movie and apparently he got a bit snippy and turned around and said, 'Ask Alfred Molina," the actor continued. "So I got into a little bit of hot water. So that's the official line - I can neither confirm nor deny."
Molina said a lot more than just "Oh, great thanks," and revealed major plot details about the movie at a time it was still shrouded in secrecy. However, those only served to get fans even more excited for the 2021 release, so we're sure both Kevin and Amy eventually forgave him!
As for a potential Doc Ock return, it could happen, though we're not banking on it. Still, a cameo appearance in Avengers: Secret Wars surely can't be completely off the table...