Up until Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s web-slinging franchise had made a conscious decision to introduce villains that had never been seen in live-action before, and it worked out a treat for all involved.
Michael Keaton’s Vulture and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio allowed two phenomenal actors to put their own stamp on a character that hadn’t been done on the big screen, but the trilogy-closing chapter is poised to return to the well in the most epic fashion imaginable.
Marvel and Sony are still keeping their cards close to the chest, but on top of Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx’s Electro, we’re expecting Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman, Rhys Ifans’ Lizard and Paul Giamatti’s Rhino to round out the movie’s multiversal Sinister Six.
In a new interview with Empire Magazine, Kevin Feige admitted that if he was ever going to use Otto Octavius again, it had to be Molina or bust.
“I remember having discussions with Amy Pascal years ago. Do we want to revisit villains we’ve seen before?’ No, let’s do Vulture, and Mysterio, and characters we haven’t brought to the screen before. But I remember thinking, ‘How would you even do Doc Ock again?’, because Alfred Molina is perfect casting. If you ever brought him back, it would have to be him somehow.”
Tom Holland has also heaped praise on his co-star, and Feige is clearly impressed with his work despite labeling him a spoiler merchant after Molina became the first Spider-Man veteran to officially confirm his involvement in No Way Home. We can’t wait to see what he brings to the table second time out, when his performance in Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel is one of the genre’s best villainous turns.
