Spider-Man: No Way Home is an unusual movie in that various leaks and premature reveals about it have actually helped the upcoming threequel by sending hype skyrocketing. One of the earliest poorly kept secrets was the return of Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx as Doctor Octopus and Electro, respectively. Memorably, Foxx took to Instagram to confirm the news, though he promptly deleted the post, likely after a telling-off from Kevin Feige.
At this point, we’ve seen a lot of Molina back as Otto Octavius, but Foxx’s Max Dillon has still yet to be featured in person. However, hints at the electrical villain can be found in the trailer and the recent poster. Likewise, star Tom Holland has now openly spoken about both Molina and Foxx’s comebacks.
Holland was asked by Total Film whether he felt he had to prove himself when acting opposite franchise veterans like these two, to which he admitted that legacy actors like Foxx have a “certain ownership” over Spidey:
“Everyone puts their trousers on in the same way in the morning. It was interesting having those guys come in because they have certain ownership over Spider-Man in their own way, and…I’m talking about Alfred and Jamie and those guys.”
Holland went on to add that he found it “really interesting” to see Molina and Foxx have to adapt to the various changes that have happened to the Spider-Man franchise, in terms of personnel and filmmaking practices, since their days.
“To see Alfred come in, and have to adapt and change to the way that the films are made, but also change director, and also [the fact that] I’m now Spider-Man. It was really interesting to see these actors adapt and change what they were doing to fit the modern era.”
“Adapt” could be the operative word to describe these villains’ return, as it looks like both Ock and Electro will have changed since we last saw them. Promo images appear to confirm that Octavius upgrades his arms with Stark tech, while Foxx revealed that his character won’t be blue this time around in his aforementioned Instagram mishap. That’s probably part of the reason why he’s being kept out of the marketing, as the studios want to keep a lid on his revamped look. Maybe we can expect something more like Electro’s classic comic book appearance.
All will be revealed when Spider-Man: No Way Home finally hits theaters on December 17th.