Perhaps the biggest moment from the Spider-Man: No Way Home teaser trailer is the appearance of Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus at the end. Combined with Molina's earlier comments about reprising Doc Ock for the film, this confirms fans' suspicions that the Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel draws a multiversal connection to Sam Raimi's blockbuster Spider-Man trilogy.
In all the excitement, however, there's just one problem that's easy to miss. Molina gave an iconic performance as the tentacled villain in Spider-Man 2, which remains one of the most well-regarded superhero movies of all time, so it's no wonder there's so much hype for his return. Thing is, his character also died at the end of that film, so how is he still alive and well in No Way Home?
Molina's portrayal of Otto Octavius was far more nuanced than early comic book iterations of the character. Rather than a scheming, cackling scientist, Molina played him as a mentor figure to Peter Parker -- one who acted tenderly towards his wife Rosey and was genuinely excited to help the world. But when a laboratory accident involving Spider-Man took everything he loved away from him, his robotic-armed "assistants" turned on him with a microchip that warped his mind. It was only by the end of the movie that he regained his sanity.
As far as deaths go, that of Spider-Man 2's Doc Ock seemed pretty definitive. A self-sustaining artificial sun burning above him, the horrified Octavius realized his only chance at stopping it was to pull the experiment into the river and himself along with it. He successfully saved the world from a cascading nuclear monstrosity that could have destroyed everything he hoped to protect, and it would appear he destroyed any chance of his own return along with it. Until now.
With the door opened to multiversal possibilities, there's no end to the potential explanations for Doc Ock's survival. It could simply be that the version of Doc Ock in No Way Home is a different variant of the one featured in Spider-Man 2. After all, in an infinite multiverse of possibilities, there could easily be a version of Octavius who did not die and lived on to become a full-fledged super-villain. Arguably, though, that would feel like a bit of a cop-out after all the buildup for Molina's appearance in the MCU.
Considering the No Way Home teaser hints at other Raimi Spider-Man villains, like Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Molina's Doc Ock isn't the only rogue seemingly back from the dead. Jamie Foxx is also reportedly returning as Electro, despite meeting his own end in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. But rather than creating alternate versions of all these characters, it could be that Doctor Strange's tampering with the multiverse in No Way Home rips them away from their respective timelines at some point before their demises.
Another thing is consider: while Molina's Doc Ock regained control of himself before saving the day in Spider-Man 2, it's possible his robotic arms would've eventually reasserted their dominance over his mind, had he not perished. That could also explain why the version in the No Way Home teaser seems to have returned to his villainous ways. And if the other returning antagonists are just as deliciously evil, this may even set the stage for a long-awaited Sinister Six team-up in the film.
All will be revealed when Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters on Dec. 17.
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