I have a bad feeling this movie may come for my soul

[sholio]

So far, one part of the MCU that hasn't actually interested me at all is the Spider-Man side of the franchise. It's partly that I'm at a stage in my life where I'd rather watch adults than teenagers for the most part, and it's partly that there is something actively offputting for me about Tom Holland's face (the actor is very sweet, I'm sure! it's just! I don't really want to watch him onscreen!!) ... I mean, it's a lot of things, and they're all idiosyncratic and very Me, but what it does lead to is that at least there's one corner of the superheroverse that I don't care about.

Then I watched the trailer for the new movie, and let me tell you a story about 2000s-era Sholio and why I suspect this movie may come for me in a way the others haven't.

Significant spoilers for the trailer, which in turn appears to be pretty spoilery for the movie. And also spoilers for the Raimi Spider-Man movies from the 2000s.

Long before superheroes meant MCU, I still watched every superhero movie I could get my hands on, over the years, and despite not really being that into Spider-Man overall, I really liked the Raimi Spider-Man movies, and I especially liked Spider-Man 2 because I fell head over heels for Alfred Molina's version of Doc Ock, in that vaguely guilty "I don't know why I love this character so much but I just doooooo" kind of way. I don't actually care about Doctor Octopus in general! And it wasn't just that he was a fairly sympathetic take on the character, but also, I just kind of liked his ... everything. He's hot. Fight me. (ง •̀_•́)ง He had a very nice arc, but he died, so there was only ever that one movie with that version of the character, forever.

Fast-forward to now.

So I watched the teaser trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, which already looked kinda fun because of the Doctor Strange/multiverse aspect.

Me: Oh okay WHAT, Alfred Molina is in this?!! All right, A+ stunt casting, very clever having him do a cameo like Flash used to bring back actors from the previous Flash show in cameos, and give a little easter egg to longtime fans. Well played.
Also me: I am not watching this damn movie for ten seconds of Alfred Molina in the Doc Ock costume.

So I watched the full-length trailer. And then I watched all the other trailers.

Me: SHIT.

It's not just a ten-second glimpse; it's literally the same character - from the 2004 movie, because Multiverse - and it looks like he's a pretty major part of the movie and ALSO at least partly on the Team Good Guy side, so this might be the Hero Doc Ock version that I wanted but didn't get since he basically got Redemption Via Death in Spider-Man 2. It kinda looks like in the big fight at the end he's fighting on their side, I think?! The trailer is suspiciously pointed about only showing him in certain scenes but not in certain other scenes.

I have maybe watched the trailers a lot at this point.

If this ends up being one of my new big fandoms in 2022, I have given sheron permission to laugh at me because of all the time I've spent complaining about the Spider-Man franchise to her.

The rest of you can laugh at me too but be aware that if this does happen there is every chance I will drag as many people as possible off this cliff with me. Like a mechanical octopus.

Comments

[melannen]

Okay, this has almost made me interested in MCU Spider-man as well!

Although I have a question: if it's doing movieverse stuff, will it also have the *actual* hottest Doc Ock fight me the one from Into the Spiderverse? The two best Doc Ocks onscreen together would be... dangerous.

[sholio]

Oh, she's hot too, no fighting here!

It looks like from the trailer that they just have various characters from the live-action versions but not the animated versions. There are probably licensing issues involved.

[philomytha]

I'm fairly sure I am now hooked on your semi-redeemed villain fics, with or without knowing the canon :-)

[sholio]

Hahaha, same! We'll just keep reading each other's semi-redeemed villain fic canon-blind, apparently.

[gwyn]

There's a funny thirst Doc Ock post on tumblr that I've seen a couple times. I tried to find it but I'm fairly bad at searching on that site. But this post immediately made me think of it--you are not alone in your Doc Ock love.

[sholio]

I noticed Tumblr seems to have a distinct Doc Ock thirst presence. I think my favorite one along those lines was someone being like "I should not be thirsting after someone 50 years older than me." STAAAAAAHP. xD

[sheron]

Oh I will.

(Distant cackling)

[sholio]

I knew it was coming.

[oracne]

Alfred Molina is objectively hot.

[sholio]

This is objectively the correct answer.

[pauraque]

Back in the day I was very, very fannish about the Raimi version of Doc Ock, and probably would have written a bunch of fic about him if I'd had the time. (As it was, I think I only actually finished one? Which received a noticeable burst of kudos after the first trailer came out, so I think you and I might not be the only ones in this boat.)

[sholio]

Yesssss. At least there will be 2 of us dangling by tentacles from this cliff. Also, that's really cool about the kudos!

[leesa_perrie]

LOL at the last comment! :D

I've watched a couple of trailers and had no idea where Doc Oc was from, so thank you, I now have some background on him. I do like the Spider-Man side of things, though the first movie was a bit more 'high school saga' than I wanted (I knew it probably would be). The second was more fun, and this one looks really good - but then, Doctor Strange is in it too, so it's got to be, surely!

I hope the movie doesn't disappoint, and that you get what you want for Doc Oc. I do understand why some people aren't keen on this side of the franchise, this Peter Parker is not to everyone's taste.

[sholio]

I'm definitely liking the look of the trailers! We shall see. :D

[scioscribe]

I've enjoyed the past Spider-Man films (they're my wife's favorite part of the whole MCU, so we'll definitely be seeing the new one in theaters) and am also very pumped about Molina (agreed on the notable hotness) coming back as Doc Ock--it's such a cool idea. Though I predict I'll still be in Zemo-land.

[sholio]

I am 99.9% sure that I'm way too entrenched in Zemo feelings right now to be dragged out (and if I do, I suspect the Winterbaron discord will drag me back). But this movie looks incredibly fun, and I'm looking forward a lot to finding out what happens!

[chelseagirl]

Oh yes. I didn't crush on Molina's Doc Ock. But back before absolutely everyone in Hollywood jumped on the superhero bandwagon, Alfred Molina elevated what could have been a stunt-driven character into an absolutely brilliant performance. I still think he might be Best Villain, period.

[sholio]

Yesssss, he's so good in it! I rewatched it tonight, and he's so versatile, jumping back and forth from heartfelt sympathetic and tragic, to gleeful OTT villainy, and making you believe in it, all while dangling from a set of oversized tentacles. That is some serious acting skill.

Alfred Molina is always a good choice

[elderwitty]

If you can't wait for this movie to come out, stream Enchanted April. He's in it, though not one of the main four characters. (He's the husband of one of them.)

It's one of my favorite movies (it's better than the book!!!) and I try to get everyone I can to watch it.

Re: Alfred Molina is always a good choice

[sholio]

Ooh, I'll look for that; thank you for the rec! :)

[yalumesse]

I've struggled to care about the Spiderman movies but this might actually get me to watch them.

[sholio]

SAME!!

[calandrahunter]

Yeah, I am DELIGHTED they're gonna play around with the Raimi Spider-Man, because you can say a lot about those movies, but they were fun! I may or may not have been solely there for the Bruce Campbell cameo.

[sholio]

The Bruce Campbell cameo was also a complete delight, and I didn't remember it at all! I was like wait, is that - IT IS!! :DDDD

[calandrahunter]

I suspect Bruce was happy because wow, he's in a Sam Raimi movie and he doesn't get beat-up??? A novel concept!

(Lucy Lawless pops up in the first one, I think, as a random lady who would like to fuck Spider-Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXmVr9krlqI

I think her character would be down to fuck Doc Ock too :D)