Willem Dafoe Playing Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 Outtake Goes Viral

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movie trilogy introduced the world to the first live-action versions of some iconic Spider-Man villains, and thanks to the talents of Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina (respectively), the movie versions of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus were big success. Dafoe and Molina are now so familiar in those roles that it’s kind of a major mind-bender to think of the situation being switched-up, and Willem Dafoe actually playing Doc-Ock in Raimi’s Spider-Man universe. However, thanks to a new Spider-Man 2 outtake, Marvel fans have gotten to see exactly how Willem Dafoe’s would’ve played Doctor Octopus – and it is definitely something to see!

The video shows Willem Dafoe visiting Sam Raimi, Alfred Molina and co. on the set of Spider-Man 2. The scene being shot that day seems to be Otto Octavius’ (Molina) initial demonstration to Harry Osborn (James Franco) and Osborn Industries, using the rare element tritium to conduct a fusion power project, using his robotic tentacle arms. The experiment seems to be a massive success until it goes horribly sideways, killing Otto’s wife and fusing the tentacle arms to Otto’s body. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is observing the demonstration and suits up as Spider-Man to save the day. However, the trauma of the accident and his new robot arms drive Otto crazy, and he starts in on a scheme to use the tritium to cause massive destruction, in vengeance against both Harry Osborn and Spider-Man.

The thing that people loved about Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius was the humanity that the actor brought to Otto, and his downward spiral arc into villainy. Clearly from the footage, Willem Dafoe would’ve seemed a lot more arch and over-the-top – I mean, who would’ve seen a scene like the one above and not thought, “Yeah, this dude ends up being the bad guy, for sure.”

Ironically enough, the arch mad scientist version of Doctor Octopus has become more popular in recent years: DaFoe’s Doc-Ock looks like he stepped right out of one of the recent Spider-Man cartoon series! However, Marvel’s Spider-Man video game has also recently reminded fans just how good the slow-burn descent of Otto Octavius can be.

Do you think Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man 3 movie will introduce Doctor Octopus to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know in the comments!

Marvel’s updated release schedule sees Black Widow arriving in theaters on November 6th. It is followed Eternals on February 12, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on May 5 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on November 5, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 18, 2022, Black Panther II on May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. Disney+ also has The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, What If…? Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight on the way.