| Otto Octavius | |
|---|---|
| Sam Raimi'sSpider-Manand Marvel Cinematic Universe character | |
 Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius inSpider-Man 2 (2004) | |
| First appearance | Spider-Man 2 (2004) |
| Last appearance | Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) |
| Based on | |
| Adapted by | |
| Portrayed by | Alfred Molina |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Otto Octavius |
| Alias | Doctor Octopus |
| Nickname | Doc Ock |
| Species | Humancyborg |
| Title | Doctor |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Affiliation | Oscorp Industries |
| Weapon | Fourrobotic arms withartificial intelligence |
| Spouse | Rosalie "Rosie" Octavius (Deceased) |
| Nationality | American |
Otto Gunther Octavius is afictionalcharacter portrayed byAlfred Molina inSpider-Man 2 (2004) and later in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021), based on theMarvel Comics characterof the same name. Octavius is introduced inSpider-Man 2 as anuclear physicist and friend and mentor ofPeter Parker, whose research intofusion power with his wifeRosie (portrayed byDonna Murphy) is being sponsored byOscorp's genetic and scientific research division, headed byHarry Osborn.
When Octavius'fusion reactor experiment usingtritium becomes unstable, resulting in Rosie's death, the harness of powerfulrobotic tentacle arms equipped withartificial intelligence (AI) which he was using to safely handle the materials is fused to his body, burning the inhibitor chip keeping the arms from controlling his nervous system. After ending up in the hospital and massacring the surgeons attempting to save Octavius by sawing them off, the arms' AI begin influencing his mind and they manipulate him to steal funds in order to attempt the experiment again, over the course of whichcrime spree theDaily Bugle dubs himDoctor Octopus, or "Doc Ock" for short, regarding him as New York's second effective supervillain. Along the way, he comes into conflict withSpider-Man, with Osborn offering to give Octavius the tritium he needs to complete his experiment in exchange for handing Spider-Man over to him. Ultimately, as the experiment begins to destroyNew York City, Spider-Man reveals himself as Peter to Octavius after damaging his arms, and inspires him to regain control of them and destroy his fusion reactor. A now redeemed Octavius sinks the fusion reactor into theEast River, but sacrifices his life in the process by drowning.
A past version of the character returns inSpider-Man: No Way Home, being transported into an alternate universe (the Marvel Cinematic Universe) shortly before his redemption and death, due to a magic spell gone wrong causing a rupture in themultiverse, and ends up clashing with that universe's (MCU)Spider-Man and his allies. After the MCU Spider-Man and his closest friend, colleague and Harry's fatherNorman replaces his faulty inhibitor chip with a working one, Octavius regains control of his arms and his mental state like he did before his original death, and joins the MCU Spider-Man, his Spider-Man and another alternate version of Spider-Man in fighting other universe-displacedsupervillains, including Norman's alter ego Green Goblin. After briefly reuniting with his version of Spider-Man, now older, Octavius is returned to a branched/alternate timeline of his universe. Molina has expressed further interest in reprising the role in the in-developmentSony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film based onThe Sinister Six.
Molina's performance as the character, considered one of the earliest portrayals of Octavius as atragic villain, has been acclaimed by critics and audiences, resultantly the character has come to be considered one of the most iconic villains in thesuperhero genre.
The character ofOtto Octavius / Doctor Octopus first appeared in print inThe Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July1963), and was created by writerStan Lee and artistSteve Ditko.[1][2][3][4] Lee recounted: "usually in creating a villain the first thing I would think of was a name, and then I would try to think of, 'Well, now that I've got the name, who's the character going to be and what will he do?' For some reason, I thought of an octopus. I thought, 'I want to call somebody Octopus. And I want him to have a couple of extra arms just for fun'. But I had to figure out how to do that".[5] The character soon re-appeared inThe Amazing Spider-Man #11-12 and then again in #31-33, becoming a fan favorite.
Otto Octavius was originally intended to be the secondary antagonist ofSpider-Man (2002), but directorSam Raimi eventually dropped the concept in favor of spending more time withHarry andNorman Osborn.[6] Raimi decided to use Octavius as the main antagonist ofSpider-Man 2 (2004) due to being both a visually interesting villain and a character who could be seen as sympathetic.[7] In a draft written byMichael Chabon,[8] a younger Doc Ock becomes infatuated with Mary Jane. His mechanical limbs useendorphins to counteract the pain of being attached to his body, which he enjoys. When he injures two muggers on a date, this horrifies Mary Jane and in the resulting battle with Spider-Man his tentacles are fused together, and the fusion begins to kill him. In the script, Octavius is the creator of the genetically altered spider from the first film, and gives Peter an antidote to remove his powers: this means when Octavius is dying with his tentacles, he wants to extract Spider-Man's spine to save himself. This leads to an alliance with Harry (a detail which made it into the finished film). Beforehand, Harry and theDaily Bugle put a $10 million price on Spider-Man's head, causing the city's citizens to turn against him.[9][10]
BeforeAlfred Molina was cast in the role several actors were considered for the role, includingEd Harris,Chris Cooper (who would later portrayNorman Osborn inThe Amazing Spider-Man 2), andChristopher Walken;[11][12] In February 2003, Molina was cast as Octavius for the film, undergoing physical training for the role.[13] Raimi had been impressed by his performance inFrida (2002) and also felt that his large physical size was true to the comic book character.[14] Molina was unaware that he was a strong contender for the role, only briefly discussing it.[7] He was excited to get the role, being a big fan ofMarvel Comics.[15] Although he was not familiar with Doc Ock, Molina wanted to maintain the cruel, sardonicsense of humor the character had in the comics.[16]
To create Doctor Octopus' mechanical tentacles, Edge FX was hired to create a corset, a metal and rubber girdle, a rubber spine and four foam rubber tentacles which were 8 feet (2.4 m) long and altogether weighed 100 pounds (45 kg). The claws of each tentacle, which were called "death flowers", were controlled by one puppeteer sitting on a chair. Each tentacle was controlled by four people, who rehearsed every scene with Molina so that they could give a natural sense of movement as if the tentacles were moving due to Octavius' muscle movement.[13] On set, Molina referred to his tentacles as "Larry", "Harry", "Moe" and "Flo".[17]
ForSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Octopus' mechanical tentacles were created throughCGI instead of puppetry. According toTom Holland, Molina had to subsequently "relearn" how to act using them.[18]
Molina first expressed interest in portraying the character again inThe Amazing Spider-Man series. In an August 2014 interview, while promotingLove Is Strange (2014), Molina expressed his openness to return as Doctor Octopus in a film based on theSinister Six, then-intended for a 2016 release, after the character's appearance in that film was teased at the end ofThe Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), but reflected that the filmmakers could choose to go for another actor.[19] By September 2019, an untitled The Sinister Six film had re-entered development,[20]Amy Pascal stating the following October that it would feature villains ofMarvel Studios'Spider-Man films.[21] By September 2021, the film was confirmed to be in active development, to be set inSony's Spider-Man Universe.[22]
AfterThe Amazing Spider-Man film series was cancelled, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced in February 2015 that Spider-Man would appear in the MCU, with the character appearing in an MCU film and Sony releasing aSpider-Man film co-produced by Feige and Pascal. Sony Pictures would continue to own, finance, distribute, and exercise final creative control over theSpider-Man films.[23] "For the first few films, it was always, 'How do we do things that have never been done before?' It did not occur to us to do a new Goblin story, or to do an Oscorp story, or to do Doc Ock, or anyone that had been done before, which is whyVulture andMysterio were really the key characters," Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feige reflected. Feige conceded "you can't get better than Alfred Molina as Doc Ock" and furthered that if they "were ever going to bring Doc Ock back, it would have to be Alfred Molina and in early development on this thirdHomecoming movie, we realized that thanks to the MCU, there was a way to do that."[24]
In December 2020, it was reported that Molina would reprise his role as the character inSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which is intended to be set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe.[25] In April 2021, Molina confirmed his involvement with film, calling it "wonderful" to reprise his role. He also revealed that Octavius's story in the film would pick up mere moments after the events ofSpider-Man 2. Molina wasdigitally de-aged in the film to resemble how he appeared in 2004, despite his concerns about his fighting style not looking realistic due to his age in a similar way toRobert De Niro's character inThe Irishman (2019).[26]
Dr. Otto Octavius is known as a nuclear physicist, a friend of Dr.Curt Connors, and a scientific idol ofPeter Parker. His work is funded byOscorp, run byNorman Osborn. Octavius worked primarily at home, with his wife and lab assistant, Rosalie Octavius.
Two years later (2004), Octavius meets Peter Parker throughHarry Osborn, Norman Osborn’s son and Harry’s best friend. He recognizes Parker as the "brilliant but lazy" student of Dr.Curt Connors. Octavius takes a liking to Parker because of his intelligence and shared interests, notably in Octavius’ work. He encourages Parker’s intellect and advises him to use his intelligence for good.
Octavius later demonstrates his work for Oscorp investors: a nuclear fusion reactor, a ‘perpetual sun’ created for the goal of providing the world with clean and affordable energy. Octavius also invented his own tools for working with the reactor: four bionic tentacle-like arms, each claw equipped with its own set of tools. The arms attach to the torso with a metal harness, and are connected to and controlled by the brain through a set of needles injected into the spinal cord, and an inhibitor chip connected to thecerebellum to protect him from the tentacles’AI. During the experiment, his refusal to acknowledge technical issues with the reactor results in the destruction of the reactor and the death of his wife. The inhibitor chip is destroyed, and the harness is welded to his spine. Doctors try to surgically remove the tentacles, but with the inhibitor chip destroyed, they act of their own free will, killing the doctors and bringing Octavius to an abandoned warehouse at the edge of the city.
Octavius considers suicide due to his physical state and guilt, but the tentacles convince him to rebuild the reactor instead. Succumbing to the AI's manipulations, he robs a bank to fund his experiment, being unsuccessfully thwarted bySpider-Man (whom he does not know is Parker). Afterwards,J. Jonah Jameson of theDaily Bugle—or more accurately, his lackey, Hoffman—dub him Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock.
After repeated conflict with Spider-Man, a desperate Harry strikes a deal with Octavius to bring Spider-Man, alive, to him in exchange for moretritium, which he needs to build the reactor. Octavius initially threatens Parker, who is connected to Spider-Man through his photography, demanding to know his whereabouts. When Parker claims he doesn’t know where Spider-Man is, Octavius kidnaps Parker’s friend and love interestMary Jane Watson as leverage. Parker, as Spider-Man, battles Octavius atop aNew York City Subway train; after sabotaging the train, Octavius leaves Spider-Man to save the passengers. After he does, Octavius returns and captures Spider-Man, weakened after using all his strength to stop the train, delivering him to Harry. In return, Harry gives Octavius the promised tritium, and Octavius begins his second attempt at the fusion reactor.
With the increased quantity of tritium, the second attempt is more dangerous than the last. The magnetic field generated becomes strong enough to pull half the city into the reactor, along with Mary Jane, who is held captive in the warehouse. Spider-Man arrives in time to save her from the reactor, apprehend Octavius, and encourages him to take back control of the arms and shut down the reactor. Realizing his faults, Octavius drowns the reactor in theEast River, taking himself with it.
In the alternate reality ofEarth-616, during the year 2024, Dr.Stephen Strange casts a spell to restore the secret identity of hisPeter Parker (dubbed "Peter-One") after it was revealed byMysterio.[c] However, Peter-One's frequent alterations causes the spell to bring in people from across themultiverse who knew Parker's identity, including Octavius. After being transported to this new reality, Octavius, still under the control of his AI arms, encounters Peter-One on theAlexander Hamilton Bridge. Believing Peter-One is his Spider-Man and that he did something with his fusion reactor, Octavius battles him and steals a piece of hisnanotechnologicalIron Spider suit, upgrading his arms. After discovering Peter-One is not his Parker, Octavius loses control of his arms when Peter-One uses the stolen nanotechnology to hack into them. Peter-One interrogates Octavius, but they are interrupted by an alternate version of the Green Goblin, whom Octavius recognizes as his late friend Norman Osborn.
Strange teleports the two of them to theNew York Sanctum and locks Octavius in a cell next to an alternate version ofCurt Connors from another universe. Later, Octavius meetsMax Dillon (from Connor's universe) andFlint Marko (from his own universe), and reunites with Osborn; the two learn from Marko that they both died while fighting their Spider-Man, which Octavius angrily refuses to believe, but is convinced, after realizing that his fight with his Spider-Man was the only thing he remembered before being brought to this universe. Strange, however, arrives and locks Osborn in another cell, preparing to send the villains back to their universes, though the villains are against being sent back to their universes because they don't want to die upon return. Wanting to save the villains, Peter-One fights and traps Strange in theMirror Dimension, intending to cure them. Hearing Peter-One's intentions to cure the villains, Octavius is reluctant, believing he does not need fixing.
Despite being unwilling, Octavius is convinced to come with Spider-Man, but protests when Peter-One decides to cure him first. Nonetheless, Peter-One and Osborn—resisting his Goblin alter ego—make a new inhibitor chip for him. The new inhibitor chip frees Octavius from the tentacles’ influence and gives him control over them once again. Octavius expresses his gratitude to Peter-One for his help, returns the nanites he absorbed back to Peter's suit, and offers to help cure the remaining villains, but Osborn's Green Goblin persona retakes control of him and convinces the uncured villains to fight back. Octavius flees during the battle. However, Octavius later assists his universe's Parker, Peter-One and an alternate version of Parker from Dillon's and Connors' universe (nicknamed "Peter-Three")—all of whom have been brought to Peter-One’s universe by Strange’s spell—to cure Dillon and fight back against the Green Goblin, while also briefly having an emotional reunion with his universe's Peter. Afterwards, Strange returns Octavius and the other displaced individuals to their respective universes.[d]
Although Octavius maintains the egocentric, selfish and arrogant nature of his comic counterpart when under the influence of the arms, he is shown to be more friendly and well-meaning pre-accident. These changes to his character aid the emotional through-line of the film. Despite his role as the main antagonist, Octavius’ story and character arc in the film bear more resemblance to aByronic Hero orAntihero archetype.
David Crow ofDen of Geek calls Octavius "a megalomaniacal fiend" who, despite building four mechanical arms, is "still inexplicably searching for a creation that will justify his genius and get him worldwide acclaim." Crow notes that the relationships Octavius has with his wife and Peter "give the accident which welds the mechanical arms to his spine and drives him insane some emotional weight."[27]
Molina's role inSpider-Man 2 has been widely well-received. In May 2014,IndieWire ranked him as the 5th greatest film supervillain of all time.[29] Additionally, Abraham Riesman ofVulture.com in his February 2018 list placed the character as number 16 in the rank of his 25 greatest movie supervillains.[30]Den of Geek,Screen Rant, andCollider ranked Doc Ock as the greatest villain in theSpider-Man film franchise.[31][32][33] The special effects used for his robotic arms were also praised, withRoger Ebert calling it the film's "special-effects triumph".[34]Chicago Tribune's Mark Caro stated that Octavius was a "pleasingly complex" villain inSpider-Man 2,[35] withKenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times concurring with Caro, opining, "Doc Ock grabs this film with his quartet of sinisterly serpentine mechanical arms and refuses to let go."[36]IGN's Richard George felt "Sam Raimi and his writing team delivered an iconic, compelling version of Spider-Man's classic foe... we almost wish there was a way to retroactively add some of these elements to the original character."[37]Empire also praised Octavius as a "superior villain" in 2015.[38]
The character's revival inSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021) was spotlighted before the release of the film with a trailer. The reveal was cited as a highlight and inspired variousInternet memes of the scene of Octavius saying "Hello, Peter".[39][40] While looking back atSam Raimi's 2000s trilogy,Tom Holland, who portraysSpider-Man in theMarvel Cinematic Universe, praised Molina's performance inSpider-Man 2, noting that he was initially terrified of the character back when he sawSpider-Man 2 for the first time.[41] Holland later expressed his enjoyment at later working with Molina inSpider-Man: No Way Home, calling Molina "one of [his] favorite people [he]'s ever worked with".[18] Benjamin Lee,[42] Neil Soans,[43] Manohla Dargis,[44] Peter Travers,[45] and Jade King singled outNorman Osborn portrayerWillem Dafoe and Molina for praise, King asserting that the two stole "the show as Green Goblin and Doc Ock" and were "brilliant depictions of these characters".[46]
Molina has received multiple nominations and an award for his portrayal of Otto Octavius.
| Year | Film | Award | Category | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Spider-Man 2 | London Film Critics' Circle | British Supporting Actor of the Year | Nominated | [47] |
| MTV Movie Awards | Best Villain | Nominated | [48] | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama | Nominated | [49] | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [50] | ||
| Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film | Won | [51] | ||
| 2022 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [52] |
One of Spider-Man's most recognizable foes burst onto the scene in this epic tale of the origin of Doctor Octopus.
"[Director] Sam Raimi saw a whole bunch of us character actors," Molina reveals. "It was me, Ed Harris, Chris Cooper and Christopher Walken. We were all actors on a list because we all had movies that made a bit of a splash.
Because Sony's always kept, outside of the current Spider-Man stuff they're doing with the Disney MCU...I know one of their long-term goals is to make Sinister Six. That's kinda the project we're all waiting for; their version of the bad guys from the Spider-Man [universe].
The bellow of applause that met their return at the press screening will likely be heard at cinemas, and while some do genuinely work (Molina and Dafoe are the predictable MVPs), there's something a little overused and ultimately a little lazy about using familiarity as a form of surprise.
Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe return to reinforce why Otto Octavius and Norman Osborn are considered amongst the most heartfelt yet menacing antagonists, not just in Spider-Man films but across the superhero genre.
Even at their chilliest and PG-13 meanest, great actors like Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina, two of a number of series veterans making return appearances, can warm up industrial material just by virtue of their presence. They soften rough edges, sell jokes, break hearts and add to the movie's tonal coherence.
It's delicious to see Molina and Dafoe back in the mischief business, that is until Peter decides these titans of terror may really be good at heart.
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