![]() He thus had the relative freedom to bask in his images, savoring the vertigo of Spidey and Ock eyeballing each other while looking 40 stories down, or in the horror of just one car (and an actual car, not a CGI blob) being thrown through a window as opposed to a fleet of them. Digital effects were still early enough along that Raimi didn’t feel the need to shove as much muddled carnage onscreen as possible. Dafoe’s Green Goblin from a few years earlier, while a campy delight, was somewhat hindered by that film’s smaller budget and the still nascent development of digital effects in superhero action.īut in Spider-Man 2? Doc Ock and Spider-Man could battle vertically on the side of a building for one set-piece and on top of a moving elevated train in another. He also made Ock the first comic book movie villain to actually be able to participate in comic book action. Raimi got the memo in that regard, relying on extensive puppeteering for close-ups and CGI for wide shots to give alternating weight and fluidity to Doc Ock’s appearances. ![]() Simply put, watching the balletic movements of an agile wallcrawler dodging a litany of moving arms just looks wildly fun, especially in motion. But whereas both of those characters present a greater hurdle to make tactile onscreen, Doctor Octopus’ mechanical arms create a visual symphony of spectacle and danger. ![]() It’s why on the page, many young fans might gravitate toward the oily nightmare of Venom, or the demonic menace of Spidey’s technical arch-nemesis, the Green Goblin. Often drawn to be a pudgy and middle-aged introvert who hides behind sunglasses and a bowl cut, Otto Octavius has never been a “cool” looking character in the traditional sense. And, just as importantly for Raimi, they took full advantage of what might be Spidey’s most visually dynamic villain. Jettisoning the other extraneous villains, as well as an awful studio note about having Doc Ock crush on college co-ed Mary Jane Watson, they returned Otto to some semblance of his comic book roots. Even so, it’s arguable that the studio which also wanted the Lizard and Black Cat in the sequel-and which would soon get its wish to overstuff a Spidey follow-up a few years later-never fully realized just how special having Doctor Octopus could be.ĭirector Raimi and the final screenwriter, Alvin Sargent, certainly did though. In 2001 that meant casting Willem Dafoe-who was about to have a career renaissance after receiving his second Oscar nomination for Shadow of the Vampire (2000)-and a few years later, it was Molina’s turn fresh off the Oscar winning Frida (2002). When Alfred Molina was cast as Otto Octavius two decades ago, he was following in the emerging Sony and Sam Raimi pattern of casting respected character actors who just received awards attention a year or two ago as the next big bad. there’s still just something about dear old Otto. No matter the continuity, or “Spider-Verse,” or even in our modern blockbuster era where Sony is giving Venom and every other Spider-Man villain their own spinoff movie…. Clearly, Marvel is banking on most folks being thrilled to see Spidey’s greatest cinematic foe returned to their universe, despite Marvel themselves already taking a stab at multiple classic Spidey villains to date, including Vulture, Mysterio, and the Shocker. Yet if that’s the case, Sony and Marvel Studios are keenly aware that most folks share that wistfulness about the Spider-Man 2 heavy since the new trailer greeted his return with all the reverence of Harrison Ford showing up again as Han Solo at the end of the first The Force Awakens trailer, or seeing a proton pack fire again at the end of Sony’s own Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer. It’d be easy to dismiss such a thought as mere nostalgia, rose-tinted memories of long gone times. After all, he remains the greatest Spider-Man movie villain to this day. But even without Maguire, there’s something just remarkable about seeing Molina as Ock again. Part of this, of course, is due to the fan theory that if Molina is coming back, then Maguire probably will too (although that isn’t confirmed). Bush was only in his first term as President of the United States-the excitement audiences had at seeing the not-so-good doctor up to no damn good was palpable. When Molina’s iconic Doctor Octopus (or Doc Ock) smiled, “Hello, Peter,” the whole world smiled right back.ĭespite it being nearly 20 years since Molina last played Doc Ock in a movie-way back when Tobey Maguire was still Spider-Man and George W. The first Spider-Man: No Way Home sizzle footage, which ended with the familiar sight of Alfred Molina strapped to four mechanical arms, was viewed more than 355 million times in its first 24 hours on the web, setting a Guinness world record. It’s the trailer that broke the internet.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |