Alfred Molina Discusses His Comeback as Doc Ock in ‘No Way Home’: “No One Was More Surprised than Me”

Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy remains one of the most iconic comic book movie trilogies, introducing numerous villains before the MCU era. Among them was Molina’s portrayal of Doc Ock.

Molina’s seamless portrayal captured the character’s evolution from a brilliant scientist to a mind-controlled villain and eventual hero. Excelling in both emotional and action-packed scenes, Molina added depth to Doc Ock, solidifying him as one of Spider-Man’s most captivating movie villains.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Molina disclosed his surprise at being approached to reprise his role. Despite some concerns about his age, Pascal and Watts reassured him they had the technology to “fix it.”

“Coming back 17 years later to play the character again, no one was more surprised than me. When they asked me, I said, ‘You realize I’m quite a bit older? I’ve got crow’s feet, I’ve got a wattle, you know, a double chin, I’ve got bad knees.’ And [director] Jon Watts and [producer] Amy Pascal said, ‘No, no, it’s your role. We want you back. We can fix all that, we’ll de-age you. We’ve got the technology, we can change everything.

I was delighted, obviously. Apart from the fact that it’s great fun to play, playing that part, in all honesty, completely changed my life. I mean, it did. It just took everything not just to a different level, but also to a whole other group of cinema fans. There’s a fan group that loved all the movies like Chocolat and Enchanted April and Frida and all those movies, and now suddenly the children of those people are kind of digging Fred Molina ’cause he’s playing Doc Ock.”

In a sense, ‘No Way Home’ offered a fitting conclusion for his character and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man.

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