Sam Raimi praises Spider-Man: No Way Home's Doc Ock

Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2
(Image credit: Sony)

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi has praised the animation used to bring Doc Ock, played by Alfred Molina, to life in the upcoming Marvel flick Spider-Man: No Way Home

Molina first portrayed the villain in 2004's Spider-Man 2, directed by Raimi, coming up against Tobey Maguire's Spidey and Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane. Raimi directed a trilogy of Spider-Man movies starring Maguire and Dunst between 2002 and 2007.

"That was beautiful," Raimi told SYFY WIRE. "He looks great, the animation’s great. I’m assuming it’s not puppeted because when we did Doc Ock, we had puppets and animation for his octopus tentacles. But it was smooth and powerful and I loved his costume they kept [from the original]. I think it’s gonna be a great movie."

Alongside Molina, Spider-Man: No Way Home will see the return of J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, a character who also appeared in Raimi's trilogy, and Jamie Foxx as Electro, who first appeared in the Andrew Garfield-led The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014. 

Along with the confirmed role of Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange in the movie, the castings have, of course, prompted a lot of discussion about the multiverse. Speaking of multiverses, Raimi's next stint in the director's chair is for the Doc's MCU sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – but we'll have to wait a little longer to see what it all means. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home swings onto the big screen on December 17. In the meantime, make sure you're up to date with the MCU with our guide to Marvel Phase 4

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.