Spider-Man 2 (2007) featured Doctor Octopus’ first live-action appearance. Aldred Molina starred as the nefarious scientist opposite Spider-Man hall-of-famer Tobey Maguire. Today, Variety is reporting that Alfred Molina will be reprising his role as Doc Ock in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 film. Of course, this time he’ll be butting heads with Tom Holland.
Alfred Molina isn’t the only actor from previous Spider-Man installments to join Spider-Man 3‘s star-studded cast. Jamie Foxx is also retuning to play Electro, a role he filled in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 alongside Andrew Garfield as the titular web-slinger. Many of the main cast from Spider-Man: Far From Home will be returning including Zendaya as MJ and Marissa Tomei as Aunt May. Finally, Benedict Cumberbatch, or Doctor Strange, is set to appear in the film as a mentor/father-figure to Peter Parker.
Maybe Molina got this role because his performance was so great before, or maybe it’s just a nice nod to Spider-fans. But there’s also a chance that the upcoming movie could involve the intersection of several Spider-verses, collecting villains and heroes from the different film sequences over the years – a theory supported by both Molina’s reappearance as Doc Ock, and Foxx’s reappearance as Electro from yet another Spider-man continuity.
Spider-Man 3 is slated for a December 17, 2021 release.
[Source: Variety]
