Spider-Man: No Way Home is looking like it will be the hottest release of 2021 and the hype train doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
After the dramatic cliffhanger of Far From Home in which Peter Parker's heroic identity was revealed to the world, anticipation for the third installment skyrocketed. But everything changed when Alfred Molina's Doc Ock was first revealed to be reprising his villainous Spider-Man 2 role.
From that point onwards, the scale of No Way Home has grown exponentially with four additional villains now expected to return and rumors of a Spider-Verse team-up. With everything Molina's return implies, it's safe to say his brief "Hello Peter" moment was the jaw-dropping icing on the cake of the first trailer.
As increasingly impatient fans eagerly await the highly-anticipated second trailer, Empire Magazine's latest issue put No Way Home in the spotlight with new villain confirmation, plenty of brand new juicy still, and all sorts of teases.
With recent stills offering a much deeper look at Alfred Molina's de-aged Otto Octavius, a new theory may link the returning villain to some Iron Man technology.
Iron Man Tech in Doc Ock's Arms?
Empire Magazine's recent Spider-Man: No Way Home-centric issue revealed several new images from the highly-anticipated sequel which may reveal a connection between Doc Ock's arms and Tony Stark's Iron Man tech.
In a newly-released close-up of Alfred Molina's Spider-Man 2 villain, noticeable red and gold streaks can be seen running through the metal plating of his robotic arms.
Interestingly, these colorful streaks are not present in Doc Ock's highway face-off with Tom Holland's hero in which he wears the Tony Stark-built Iron Spider suit.
Since Doc Ock certainly seems to have Spider-Man in his inescapable clutches during this scene, some have theorized the nano-tech suit will be destroyed in the encounter and harnessed by Octavius to upgrade his arms.
The Iron-Spider suit previously took a back seat for Far From Home's European adventures, although it did make a brief appearance to highlight the charging station in Peter's bedroom for the nanite-based Stark tech.
No Way Home Evolves Classic Spider-Man Villains
In order to tell a strong story, No Way Home not only needs to do justice to its returning heroes and villains but also evolve and progress their characters in a way that feels natural, fitting, and meaningful.
Since they'll be coming from the early 2000s-set Raimi trilogy, Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Alfred Molina's Doc Ock, and Thomas Hayden Church's Sandman ought to have a rather jarring experience in the sequel as they hop forward two decades. For minds as genius as Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius, this may allow the villains to give their technology some big upgrades.
Should this theory prove true, it will be interesting to see how Tony Stark's nano-tech enhances Doc Ock's already advanced robotic tentacles. The potential destruction of the Iron-Spider suit could explain why Tom Holland's Peter Parker will build his new Integrated suit within the movie to use in later battles.
Additionally, taking away some Iron Man tech from Spider-Man would certainly lessen many criticisms of the MCU's Spider-Man and the viral Iron Boy Jr. controversy. With Robert Downey Jr.'s Avenger now gone, perhaps it's time for Peter Parker to forge his own path in this universe.
Since Octavius was a leading scientific mind within his universe, it's entirely possible the genius villain had encountered Howard or Tony Stark in his own universe. Perhaps the return of heroes and villains from across the Spider-Verse could allow for some tidbits of information regarding the Avengers of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's universes, assuming they even exist that is.
Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17, 2021.
