It seems the next Spider-Man movie is becoming a veritable smorgasbord of familiar faces and people denying the presence of those familiar faces. While many of the returning characters and stars from past movies are basically common knowledge at this point, the studio and actors seem pretty adamant about denying their involvement even in the face of actual video evidence. Well, don't worry. This time, the confirmation comes from a few words on a picture. Words have never led people astray, right?

The rumors surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home and its menagerie of potential guest stars have been swirling nonstop for months now, with even professional VFX artists verifying their authenticity. But even after all this time, and with the film's release so tantalizingly close, those rumors are still circulating and giving birth to new possibilities. Case in point, a recent Empire magazine article has supposedly revealed the presence of 2 more high-profile villains joining the film's ranks. Whether the claims can be confirmed is another story, but given how things have been going so far, there's definitely some hope.

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Shared by Twitter profile Everything CBM, the latest issue Empire features an image depicting Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius (Doc Ock) as well as a few other shots that have perked up the ears of fans all over. Not only do these appear to be new shots of Molina in character (either that, or just stills from his appearance in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2), but sharp-eyed observers will notice some text in the first picture that appears to confirm the involvement of 2 more classic villains. The text mentions Rhys Ifans as The Lizard (last seen in The Amazing Spider-Man) and Thomas Haden Church as Sandman (from Raimi's Spider-Man 3) as well as the word "Jamie," which likely refers to Jamie Foxx as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The possibilities here are positively intoxicating. Director Jon Watts has already confirmed that No Way Home will essentially be the Spider-Man version of Avengers: Endgame, complete with tons of cameos and callbacks. So the inclusion of old favorites like The Lizard and Sandman wouldn't feel particularly out of place given the whole multiverse theme going on with the film.

However, it's very much worth noting that the wording of the text that supposedly confirms the 2 characters doesn't technically say they'll be in the movie. It only appears to infer it based on how No Way Home is set to include the worlds from which these villains originated. Even the shots of Doc Ock look like they could easily be from either the new film or Molina's original appearance, which is entirely possible given his hairstyle here compared to how he looked in Spider-Man: No Way Home's recent trailer.

But that's just skeptic talk. The fact is, this could go either way. No Way Home appears to be setting up a context where virtually any character from past Spider-Man movies could show up to shake things around. This article may not be a confirmation, but it sure as heck makes for some mighty fine speculation.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will release in theaters on December 17th, 2021.

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Source: Empire (via Everything CBM/Twitter)