Alfred Molina returning as Doctor Octopus for Tom Holland's next Spider-Man movie

Everyone's favorite eight-limbed supervillain is back.

Alfred Molina and his four metal appendages will be reprising his role as Doctor Octopus in the next Spider-Man movie, starring Tom Holland. Molina's malevolent scientist was the big bad in Sam Raimi's 2004 film Spider-Man 2, and now he'll be returning to face off against Holland's Peter Parker in the yet-untitled follow-up to 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Molina won't be the first Spider-Man veteran to appear alongside Holland's Spidey: J.K. Simmons reprised his role from the Raimi films as J. Jonah Jameson in the end-credits sequence of Far From Home. And Jamie Foxx is also reportedly returning as the villain Electro, after appearing in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — which means the new film will feature villains from across the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spidey eras.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported Molina's return.

It's unclear whether Molina and Foxx will be playing the same versions of their characters from previous films or a new take on the classic comic villains. (The involvement of Benedict Cumberbatch, who'll also be appearing in the film as Doctor Strange, raises the possibility of some multiverse-spanning shenanigans.)

Jon Watts is returning to direct the new Spider-Man, which began filming in October in Atlanta as a joint production between Sony and Disney's Marvel Studios. Holland's previous costars Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, and Jacob Batalon are also expected to return, and the film is currently scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 17, 2021.

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