Spider-Man 3: Doctor Octopus Star Reveals He'll Be De-Aged For Tom Holland Movie

With so many projects from Marvel Studios on the horizon for 2021 and beyond, there is no shortage of exciting news coming from the MCU on a daily basis. However, even with a combined eight movies and Disney+ shows coming to screens in the next seven months, none have been able to make headlines quite like Marvel and Sony's Spider-Man: No Way Home.

That's what happens with a team-up including the web-slinger and the Sorcerer Supreme, along with the potential of villains appearing from previously non-canon Spider-Man movies.

The MCU's third Spidey solo film was first rumored to include Jamie Foxx's Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in October 2020, sending the comic book movie fandom into a frenzy theorizing how he would make his way into a new universe. This was compounded by the reported arrivals of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Thomas Hayden Church's Sandman, both making a comeback from the 2000's Sam Raimi-directed trilogy.

That trilogy had villains from the first and third movies representing themselves, which came after news that a certain mechanical-armed genius from Spider-Man 2 would come into play as well. After numerous reports and cast members discussing his influence on the film, the actor himself has finally confirmed what fans have been waiting to hear...

EXCITING SPIDER-MAN NEWS CONFIRMED

In an extensive interview with Variety, actor Alfred Molina confirmed that he will be reprising the role of Doctor Otto Octavius in Marvel Studios' and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: No Way Home. This confirms his inclusion in the movie after multiple reports and rumors pointing to this casting.

Molina spoke on the intense secrecy of the MCU's 27th movie, revealing that everybody in the cast was "all under orders not to talk about it." Joking about himself as "the worst kept secret in Hollywood," he admitted the challenge of keeping that secret with so much news about it all over the internet:

“When we were shooting it, we were all under orders not to talk about it, because it was supposed to be some great big secret. But, you know, it’s all over the internet. I actually described myself as the worst kept secret in Hollywood!”

Molina couldn't help but express his excitement to return to the role of Otto Octavius 17 years after his appearance in Spider-Man 2, calling it both "wonderful" and "interesting" at the same time with how much time has passed:

“It was wonderful. It was very interesting going back after 17 years to play the same role, given that in the intervening years, I now have two chins, a wattle, crow’s feet and a slightly a slightly dodgy lower back.”

With Octavius having died in the 2004 sequel, Molina spoke to director Jon Watts on how the MCU would bring him back to life. After confirming to Molina that "In this universe, no one really dies," Watts spoke on how the movie will pick up the villain's story from the very moment in which he drowned in the river

Molina also confirmed that this movie will use de-aging technology to make Octavius look the way he did in Spider-Man 2. He confirmed from his conversation with Watts that Marvel would use the same techniques used on Robert Downey, Jr. in Captain America: Civil War and on Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel:

“He just looked at me, and said, ‘Did you see what we did to Bob Downey Jr. and Sam Jackson?'” (laughs)

While Marvel has done fantastic work with this tech, Molina admitted he was nervous about looking "like an old guy," referencing the way Robert De Niro looked in the Netflix-released Irishman:

“They made Robert De Niro’s face younger, but when he was fighting, he looked like an older guy. He looked like an old guy! That’s what that’s what worried me about doing it again.”

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