A Major Spider-Man Villain Nearly Featured In 'Iron Man'

An early version of Iron Man would have seen Dr. Otto Octavius feature in the film as the recipient of robotic tentacles that eventually transform him into the villainous Doc Ock in the Spider-Man series. 

The Internet nearly combusted when Doc Ock emerged from the smoke in the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home. As well as the tragic scientist, the Green Goblin, Lizard and Sandman are all confirmed to pop up in the upcoming film, yet the rumours that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are on board remain ambiguous. 

"No, no, they will not be appearing in this film," said Tom Holland in an interview with Esquire. "Unless they have hidden the most massive piece of information from me, which I think is too big of a secret for them to keep from me.” Given Holland’s gift of the gab, it could be that Marvel Studios is keeping the actor in the dark for as long as possible to avoid any spoilers. If you were in their shoes, wouldn’t you? 

Of course, it’s been some time since we’ve seen Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock on the silver screen, so it’s intriguing to think that he could have reprised his role in Iron Man. Moviefone claims that one of the drafts of the script would have mentioned that Dr. Octavius is the person who gets a set of robotic tentacles built by Tony Stark. 

I mean, honestly, I think seeing Doc Ock again is the part of No Way Home I’m most excited for. "It was really fun to watch him see how technology has advanced," mused Holland, speaking to Entertainment Weekly. "When he was making these films, 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."