Alfred Molina has not only confirmed that his “Doc Ock” aka as Otto Octavius, will return after 17 years to “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” but that the film will de-age him to match “the moment” he died in the “Spider-Man 2,” according to an interview in Variety
Molina, who is 67, had “practical” concerns about the physicality of the role since he has aged since the 2004 superhero film.
“‘Did you see what we did to Bob Downey Jr. and Sam Jackson?'” “Spider-Man” director Jon Watts told Molina.
Also Read: Alfred Molina to Return as Doctor Octopus in 'Spider-Man 3'
Marvel Studios de-aged Robert Downey Jr. to appear the way he did in 1991 in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” and Sam Jackson was de-aged to play a younger version of his character, Nick Fury, set in the 1990s in 2019’s “Captain Marvel.”
Molina last appeared as Doctor Octopus in 2004’s “Spider-Man 2” from director Sam Raimi. The film is considered one of the greatest superhero movies of all time.
This is perhaps the biggest sign that “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” starring Holland as the wall-crawler, will be a huge “Spider-Verse” movie that brings back previous Spider-Man actors and villains. Jamie Foxx is set to reprise his role as Spider-Man villain Electro in “Spider-Man 3;” the actor played the character in the 2014 “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which starred Andrew Garfield before the character was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The question now remains will Andrew Garfield and especially Tobey Maguire reprise their roles as the Spider-Men from their previous films? Reps for both actors, along with Marvel Studios, and Sony didn’t respond to numerous requests for comment.
Sony has dated the third film for Dec. 17, 2021 . Jon Watts, who directed “Homecoming” and 2019’s “Far From Home,” is also directing “No Way Home.”
The most recent Spider-Man film, “Far From Home,” brought back another popular character from a previous iteration of the franchise, having J.K. Simmons reprise his role as J. Jonah Jameson from the original trilogy of films with Tobey Maguire.
Other franchise regulars, including Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon and Tony Revolori, will likewise return for the sequel. Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal are producing the third film in the franchise.
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