Officially, Marvel and Sony have announced no special appearances from previous Spider-Man cast members in Spider-Man: No Way HomeFor sure, Tom Holland’s back as Spider-Man, and for sure Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are in it as well as MJ and Ned. Beyond that, though it’s all speculation and rumor — of which there have been many in the last year or so. The biggest would be that both previous live-action Spider-Men — Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield — will appear in the film, along with two of their signature opponents — Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2 and Jamie Foxx’s Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, respectively.

Well, one of those rumors got confirmed in a big way this week, as Alfred Molina talked pretty extensively about his role and his performance with Variety. Most significantly, he revealed that this Doctor Octopus is the one from Spider-Man 2 from the “moment” we last saw him in the film, namely sinking to the bottom of the East River after using his metal arms to save New York City from one of his inventions gone wrong. As for how they explain the fact Doc Ock is still around even though he died in that “moment” from Spider-Man 2No Way Home director Jon Watts apparently told Molina, “In this universe, no one really dies.”

Molina also explained that Marvel will use the same de-aging technology from Captain Marvel (where Samuel L. Jackson got a CGI facelift back to way he looked in the early 1990s) to make him appear as exactly did in Spider-Man 2. Molina also had this to say about returning to the character of Doc Ock:

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.

Molina joked that no one was supposed to know about his appearance in the film but that despite their best efforts, his name was all over the Internet last year. He even called himself “the worst kept secret in Hollywood.” Well, if it wasn’t before, it certainly is now. Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to open in theaters on December 17, 2021.

Gallery — Every Marvel Movie Ever Made, Ranked From Worst to Best:

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