Doctor Octopus is coming back in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and his trademark tentacles got an upgrade – but could that be Iron Man’s doing? The Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently in its fourth phase following the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, and the central theme so far seems to be the multiverse. The MCU’s Phase 4 is covering both TV shows and movies, and through them, it has been introducing the multiverse, its dangers, and how the multiversal madness can be triggered.

WandaVision and Loki have been the TV shows that have explored the multiverse on different levels so far, and the first movie in Phase 4 to go into the multiverse and its many dangers is Spider-Man: No Way Home. The third Spider-Man movie will see Peter Parker (Tom Holland) dealing with the consequences of having his identity exposed, and in order to make everyone forget about it, he will seek Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help. The Sorcerer will agree to cast a spell to help Peter, but it won’t go as planned and they will mess with the fabric of space and time, making way for the arrival of characters from other parts of the Marvel multiverse.

Related: Every Spider-Man Villain Rumored For No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home will bring back villains from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man, as are Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), and possibly Lizard, Sandman, and Green Goblin as well. The return of Molina’s Doc Ock has made the excitement and anticipation for Spider-Man: No Way Home even bigger as he’s a beloved character from Raimi’s movies, so all eyes are set on him and his return. Doc Ock made his first appearance in the first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, and after the release of some official images, fans quickly pointed out that his tentacles have been updated, and they could be a creation of none other than Iron Man.

Doc Ock Has Upgraded Tentacles In Spider-Man: No Way Home

Doc Ock gets an Iron Man upgrade in Spider-Man No Way Home

The very first appearance of Molina’s Doctor Octopus was in Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. In it, viewers saw his transformation from nuclear scientist to villain after a demonstration of his robotic tentacle arms with artificial intelligence goes wrong. His signature tentacles, then, are understood to be his creation, and no one intervened on them through the rest of the movie. Now, the aforementioned images from Spider-Man: No Way Home show some slight but important changes to Doc Ock's tentacles, confirming they have been updated and thus could do a lot more than in his first big-screen appearance.

Doc Ock’s tentacles now have a red and gold tint, while in Spider-Man 2, they were all silver. Although it’s a seemingly minor change that might not be immediately noticeable to many, this can actually show that Doc Ock had some extra help in upgrading his tentacles, and it could have come from the hero that led the Infinity Saga in the main MCU timeline: Tony Stark/Iron Man.

Theory: Doc Ock’s Upgraded Tentacles Are Iron Man Technology

Spider-Man No Way Home Trailer Doc Ock Iron Spider Suit

Although all details about Spider-Man: No Way Home’s version of Doc Ock are unknown, such as how he’s still alive (as he died at the end of Spider-Man 2), from which part of the multiverse he’s coming from, and of course his backstory, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that his tentacles have some Iron Man technology. Tony Stark’s technology stands out for using the Iron Man color palette of red and gold, just like with the Spider-Man suits he created for his mentee, so Doc Ock’s tentacles having these same colors could point at Stark being behind this technology to an extent – the big question is how.

Tony Stark sacrificed himself in Avengers: Endgame when he took the Infinity Stones away from Thanos with his Nano Gauntlet and did the final snap that destroyed Thanos and his armies, saving the universe. Tony’s presence was still felt in Spider-Man: Far From Home as he left a suit synthesizer for Peter to create a new suit for himself with designs and technology by Stark himself. The Tony Stark MCU fans know is now gone in the main timeline, but that doesn’t mean he can’t exist in other parts of the multiverse. As pretty much everything about the MCU multiverse is a mystery, there are many possibilities out there, such as an alternate universe Tony Stark working alongside Doc Ock (either before his transformation into a villain or during it, as this could be a non-heroic Tony) or Doctor Octopus stealing some Stark technology in his universe and using it to his benefit.

Doc Ock’s Iron Man Tentacles Would Payoff A Canceled Spider-Man Idea

Iron Man almost crossover Spider-Man 2

While a link between Doc Ock and Iron Man can now make sense thanks to the multiverse, this isn’t the first time these two were connected – it just wasn’t the right time back then. When Iron Man was in development in the late 2000s, there were many ideas for the story that ended up being discarded, among those one where Tony Stark was revealed to be the creator of Doc Ock’s tentacles, connecting Iron Man and Spider-Man 2. Of course, this couldn’t have been possible due to how the rights to these characters were handled back then, as Sony had full control of Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and its characters, and the deal that brought Holland’s Spider-Man to the MCU didn’t happen until many years later. Now, Spider-Man 2 didn’t give a proper origin to the tentacles, so it’s implied that Octavius created them, more so as he mentions he developed the inhibitor chip that protected his brain function. If he’s using Iron Man technology in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the MCU would be paying off this early Iron Man idea, and it would be a lot more believable now.

Would Doc Ock’s Iron Man Tentacles Be Good For No Way Home?

Doc Ock smiles in the Spider-Man No Way Home trailer

Doc Ock using Iron Man technology can be both good and bad for Spider-Man: No Way Home and the MCU in general. The Infinity Saga had this not-so-silent trend of Tony Stark unintentionally creating villains (look no further than to the villains in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Vulture and Mysterio), so this would continue that even after Tony’s death while also keeping him in Peter’s life, more so as he was an important figure in the young hero’s life. A connection between Doc Ock’s weapons and Stark’s technology would also further bring together these two different universes, and it would be an interesting connection that could, at one point, bring Tony back in order to explain the backstory of his work with Octavius.

On the other hand, and among a variety of complaints from fans, viewers aren’t on board with Iron Man still being a big presence in Spider-Man’s arc. Many feel that Iron Man overshadows Spider-Man in the latter’s own world, and the MCU has certainly made the web-slinger somewhat dependent on Stark and his technology, so having him as the man behind the upgrade of Doc Ock’s tentacles could once more take the spotlight away from Peter. Surely, there are ways in which this could happen in Spider-Man: No Way Home without taking importance away from Peter and his story and not focusing too much on Iron Man’s influence, and there can also be other reasons for Doc Ock’s tentacles to have those particular colors (perhaps he destroyed one of Spider-Man’s new suits and absorbed that technology?) without him having a direct link to Tony Stark – but only time will tell.

Next: Spider-Man: No Way Home: Why It's Better If Garfield & Maguire DON'T Appear

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