Alfred Molina compares Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's. The English actor has taken on various roles across the stage and screen over his long career, making his film debut as Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Today, he is best known as the villain, Dr. Otto Octavius (a.k.a Doctor Octopus), starring as the primary antagonist in 2004's Spider-Man 2, the second installment in Raimi's beloved Spider-Man trilogy.

By way of the multiverse, Molina returned to his career-defining role as Doc Ock in this past year's Spider-Man; No Way Home alongside fellow villains from Raimi's trilgoy – Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Thomas Haden Church's Sandman. No Way Home is the third installment in Jon Watts and Tom Holland's MCU trilogy which began back in 2017 with Homecoming. In addition to record-breaking box office returns, the multiverse movie successfully brought all three Spider-Man franchises together with appearances from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, reigniting fan interest in seeing them return for their cancelled solo projects – Maguire's Spider-Man 4 and Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man 3.

Related: No Way Home Shows Maguire's Spider-Man's View On Revenge Evolved  

During an appearance on the podcast Household Faces with John Ross Bowie, Molina spoke at length about Raimi and Watt's Spider-Man movies, gushing with praise for the two directors and creative teams behind those films. Though one stark difference between Spider-Man 2 and No Way Home highlighted by Molina, however, pertains to his character's arc. Read what he had to say below:

"What made Jon Watts’ Spider-Man movies and Sam Raimi’s movies so wonderful is that they were both directed by people who, and had creative teams of people, who absolutely love the genre, they love this world. This is a huge thing for them and they take it very, very seriously and they’re very passionate about it. So the detail that goes into it is just phenomenal. But as an actor, very much you’re… a functionary in a sense, particularly if you’re playing the bad guy, because you have to fulfill certain functions.

But what makes this movie interesting and different from the previous one is that, here we see the full redemption, certainly of Doc-Ock, which makes me think that maybe they may be putting him to bed. Because I don’t think you can be a good person with a moral compass who turns into a villain, and then comes back to being the decent person he was and then [back again]… I don’t think that would happen."

Spiderman no way home Doc Ocks Story Makes His Final Spider Man 2 Line Better

Molina is spot on about his character's overall arc from Spider-Man 2 to No Way Home. When he was first introduced, Dr. Octavius is a nuclear scientist with noble intentions of building an artificial sun that serves as an unlimited source of renewable energy. Of course, his hubris causes the experiment to go horribly wrong, killing his wife and destroying the inhibitor chip which gives Octavius control over his robotic arms. After being corrupted by their influence, Doc Ock attempts to re-create a more powerful version of the reactor that threatens the entire city. Spider-Man is eventually able to appeal to his humanity and Octavius decides to sacrifice himself to destroy the dangerous experiment.

No Way Home brings Doc Ock over to the MCU before his demise and this time around, the character wasn't just given a full redemption arc, but his villainy is cured midway though the movie before being sent back to his respective universe at the end. Molina is right to point out how this will likely hinder his chances of returning to the Spider-Man villain in the future. However, Molina could still return as Dr. Octavius' former self, the brilliant scientist and Peter Parker's mentor.

Next: No Way Home Deleted Scene Sets Up Maguire & Garfield's MCU Return

Source: Household Faces with John Ross Bowie

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