Kevin Feige Explains the Choice To Bring Back Alfred Molina As Doc Ock for Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally hitting theaters in December, and Marvel fans are eager to find out which of the longstanding casting rumors will turn out to be true. Ever since the movie first went into production, there have been many rumors about the film, including the longstanding belief that it will feature former Spider-Man stars, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Tom Holland has denied these rumors, but we do know for a fact that Alfred Molina will be returning as Doc Ock from the Maguire-led Spider-Man 2. During a recent interview with Empire, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige talked about wanting to bring in new villains for Holland’s Spider-Man movies and explained why they chose to bring back Molina for the first time since 2004. 

“‘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,” Feige shared. 

Before Molina was officially confirmed for Spider-Man: No Way Home, the actor spilled the beans while chatting with Variety.

“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,” said Molina. “But, you know, it’s all over the internet. I actually described myself as the worst kept secret in Hollywood!” He joked, “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.”

Recently, Holland spoke with EW and talked about getting to work with Molina. 

“It was really fun to watch him see how technology has advanced,” Holland mentioned. “When he was making these films, the arms were puppets, and when we did it, they’re all imaginary and CG. It was quite cool to see him relive it, but also relearn it.”

Are you excited to see Alfred Molina return as Doc Ock? Tell us in the comments! 

Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently set to release in theaters on December 17th. In the meantime, the MCU’s 2021 line-up includes Eternals hitting theaters on November 5th and Hawkeye premiering on Disney+ on November 24th.