Alfred Molina to return as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 3 

So this has been rumoured for a little bit of time but The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the news that Alfred Molina is set to reprise his role as Doctor Otto Octavious in the third Tom Holland Spider-Man. Now this isn't the first casting news we have heard about this film and there is plenty to theorise and talk about so let's get started. 

Molina was great in the role the first time 

Onto the obvious thing, Alfred Molina played the same character in Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and he was a real highlight. He was a tragic character and you saw how his life is turned upside down when his experiment goes wrong and his wife is killed how it changes him, he was a real mentor figure to Peter and I thought he was a great choice as the villain for that film. 

He cannot be playing the same character

There have been plenty of discussion around this film focusing on the Spider-Verse and different worlds and I think that can be the case but I am pretty certain this cannot be the same version as the one in Spider-Man 2. My reasoning for that is that I mean spoilers for the film that is 16 years old but he dies at the end of the film and you very clearly see his body, I mean he could have been resurrected but I doubt that is where the film is going. 

Could he be playing the Doctor Octopus from The Amazing Spider-Man world? 

Now this is a theory that I thought of when the news was announced but could Molina be playing the same character but from the world of The Amazing Spider-Man films, I also think that could mean Jamie Foxx's Electro could be from The Original Spider-Man trilogy world. We never saw Doc Ock in that world so why couldn't Molina be from that world, it could also provide and interesting story if he was from this world. 

I believe this confirms Tobey Maguire's appearance as well

Now again this is my own opinion but I truly believe that this casting basically confirms that Tobey Maguire's version of Spider-Man will appear in this film for a Spider-Verse crossover. It would be strange to see Molina without Maguire and if my theory from above happened it would be interesting to see Maguire go against a man who was his mentor but from another world. 

Is this film going to have too much going on? 

After the amazing end of Spider-Man Far From Home, I was super excited for a Tom Holland Spider-Man 3 to really nail a great trilogy which no other Spider-Man has. I mean that could still happen but I do wonder if this whole Spider-Verse is going to bog down the story and take the shine away from that character and the world they have built, I remain optimistic but there is always a chance. 

It could be setting up a multiverse Sinister Six

So far in the Spider-Man films, they haven't been able to put a version of The Sinister Six on the big screen. It feels like a big miss but could this film finally bring them to the big screen, combining the three universes villains into one super group. I mean the group could see Molina's Doc Ock, Foxx's Electro, Michael Keaton's Vulture, Jake Gyllenhall's Mysterio and two other villains from the universes, which could be a fun thing to see. 

Overall

Overall, this is interesting news which adds some intrigue to the film but I hope and have faith that Marvel Studios knows what it is doing and can deliver a great Spider-Man film.