Spider-Man: No Way Home star Tom Holland revealed in a new interview he was terrified of Alfred Molina's portrayal of Dr. Otto "Doc Ock" Octavius in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.
"I was obsessed with Raimi's movies," Holland recently told Empire magazine about being introduced to the character at just 8 years old. "I remember seeing Alfred in his costume for the first time, and he had the glasses on, and he was wearing his belt, which is what the legs were attached to. And I remember, as I kid, being terrified of him."
While Doc Ock appeared to meet his end in 2004's Spider-Man 2, Molina confirmed earlier this year he would reprise the role of the scientist-turned-supervillain in the upcoming third installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man franchise. Molina has since explained that his character was able to be resurrected for the MCU because, according to No Way Home director Jon Watts, "In this universe, no one really dies." Watts also reportedly told him that No Way Home will pick up Doc Ock's story from "that moment" in the river. Interestingly, since Doc Ock's apparent death is a result of self-sacrifice after the villain realizes the error of his ways, No Way Home will presumably have to explain why the Doc begins to attack Spidey again.
During another part of his conversation with Empire, Holland recalled what it was like to see Molina in the Doc Ock costume on No Way Home's Atlanta set, which he said was more pleasant than he expected it to be. "He was like, 'Hello, mate! How are you, pal? How's it going?'" the actor revealed. "He was lovely. He's a proper geezer. We had so much fun working together."
Holland's latest comments build on previous statements he made about filming alongside Molina and watching the veteran actor bring Doc Ock back to life. "It was really fun to watch [Molina] see how technology has advanced," he said at the time. "When he was making [Raimi's Spider-Man 2], the arms were puppets, and when we did it, they're all imaginary and CG. It was quite cool to see him relive it, but also relearn it."
In addition to the CG tentacles, Marvel used de-aging effects on Molina for New Way Home. The same technology was used on Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark in flashback scenes featured in 2016's Captain America: Civil War and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in 2019's Captain Marvel, which took place in the '90s.
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: No Way Home also stars Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Tony Revolori, Jamie Foxx, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The film arrives in theaters Dec. 17.
Source: Empire