The trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home sure took its time, but now that it’s here MCU connoisseurs are dissecting every frame of Spider-Man footage to find out just what’s happening, and that includes figuring out exactly how and why Dr. Otto Octavius is in it.
Unlike the rumors surrounding Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s return to reprise their Spider-Man roles alongside Tom Holland, both Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx confirmed their involvement in No Way Home from earlier on. Regardless of that and having Doctor Strange now officially in a starring role for the movie, it was probably Doctor Octopus, a potential Daredevil sighting, and that rolling pumpkin bomb that grabbed most people’s attention.
After being engulfed by his failed nuclear reactor in New York’s Hudson River towards the end of Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus now finds himself popping up in that same river to say hello to Peter (although it’s not clear which one). However, some clever fans noticed an extra detail on Doc Ock’s tentacle arms, which seem to be flashing red instead of white, signaling that this is indeed the evil version of the character.
In Spider-Man 2 Doctor Octavius loses control over his mind and action when his mechanical arms’ AI overrides his own brain, turning him into the aggressive villain he is throughout most of the film. Molina himself has told several media outlets his character, like many others, is picking up right where he left, thus meaning that Doc Ock could have literally fallen into some interdimensional portal that pulled him into the MCU’s Spider-Man universe.
It’s clear from the trailer’s shot that Molina underwent a slight de-aging process thanks to the wonders of CGI, which means his tentacle hardware took over his brain just after he sacrificed himself in Spider-Man 2. One more possible theory could pinpoint to Sony and Marvel Studios using the red light in Doctor Octopus’ tentacles as a bit of misdirection for fans, something that wouldn’t be entirely foreign to the MCU.
With the movie still more than three months away from its premiere, there is surely at least one more trailer outlined Spider-Man: No Way Home and even then, it’s unlikely the film will use all of its shock and awe web cartridges this soon. After all, there are still plenty of rumors concerning William Dafoe's return as well as how to bring together the Sandman and Lizard too in order to form Sony's Spider-Man Universe's own Sinister Six.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled for release on December 16, 2021.
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