Marvel fan spots exciting Doctor Octopus clue in Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer

If true, it could prove very big for fans of Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man 2’

A Marvel fan is pointing out an exciting clue about Alfred Molina’s return as Doctor Octopus in the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer.

On Tuesday (24 August), the first official look at the sequel, showing off the character’s return, as well as teasing the appearances of Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, arrived online.

These villains, who appeared in non-MCU films starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, will appear in the film thanks to the multiverse, a series of worlds featuring characters, dead and alive.

The trailer seems to reveal that the multiverse is introduced after a spell cast by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) goes awry, hinting that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will be battling the characters.

Fans have since suggested that the Doctor Octopus reveal, in which he can be seen saying “Hello Peter”, all but confirms the return of Maguire. Theories state that the finished film will reveal that Molina’s character is actually talking to Maguire’s Peter Parker at this particular moment.

The pair were last seen on screen together in Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel Spider-Man 2, in which Doc Ock is defeated.

During the film, his four mechanical arms are equipped with a globe at the centre that would glow white when Otto Octavius was in control, but would burn red when the artificial intelligence inside his body took control.

Viewers of that film might not remember that, when Doctor Octopus died, the AI was in control, with the mechanical arms burning red.

The trailer for No Way Home shows that these arms are still burning red .

If, like the theory from the above fan (which was highlighted by ComicBook.com ) suggests, his appearance in the trailer might marks his first arrival on screen in the finished film, and could reveal something quite important: that, while it’s been 17 years since Spider-Man fans last saw him on screen, it might have only been a matter of moments for the villain.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released in cinemas on 17 December.