No Way Home Theory Explains Doc Ock’s Spider-Man 2 Change

Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed that the universes of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s multiverse by bringing some of their villains into the MCU’s main universe, among them Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), and a theory explains that No Way Home is the reason behind Doc Ock’s change at the end of Spider-Man 2. Spider-Man: No Way Home explored the dangers of the multiverse by having Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) accidentally open the gates to the multiverse, thus allowing villains from other universes to cross over.

No Way Home brought back the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus, Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Electro (Jamie Foxx), with Spider-Man teaming up with two of his variants (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) to find a cure for these villains before sending them back to their respective universes. The events of No Way Home and its place in the timelines of each villain have made way for a theory that explains why Doc Ock did what he did at the end of Spider-Man 2, thus perfectly connecting these universes.

How Doc Ock Changed In Spider-Man 2

Otto Octavius made his big screen debut in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, back in 2004. Set two years after the first movie, Spider-Man 2 saw Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) dealing with an existential crisis that left him without his powers for some time, while also struggling to stop Doctor Octopus. Octavius was a scientist working on behalf of Oscorp who quickly becomes a mentor to Peter due to their shared love for science. Octavius was working on a fusion power project for which he used robotic tentacle arms with artificial intelligence, so he could properly manipulate the reactor. Unfortunately, a public demonstration of it went terribly wrong and the explosion burned the inhibitor chip blocking the arms from his nervous system, leaving him at the mercy of the tentacles’ AI. Octavius then became the villain Doctor Octopus, and his new goal was to redo his experiment but at a larger scale.

Doc Ock came very close to achieving his goal as he got the material he needed thanks to Harry Osborn (James Franco), but Spider-Man arrived right in time to stop him. Spider-Man revealed his identity to Doc Ock as the nuclear reactor became more and more threatening, and persuaded the mad scientist to let his dream go for the greater good. Doc Ock had a sudden change of heart and took control again, demanding the tentacles to obey him, and so he sacrificed himself to destroy the reactor and save the city.

Theory: No Way Home Is The Reason Why Doc Ock Changed In Spider-Man 2

Doc Ock’s change of heart at the end of Spider-Man 2 was too sudden even before No Way Home came out, but the latter might have found a way to explain it. A theory posted on Reddit breaks down how No Way Home connected to Spider-Man 2 and justifies Doc Ock’s change at the end of the movie, and it starts by pointing out that Doc Ock knew exactly when he vanished from his universe and landed in the MCU. Doc Ock said he had Spider-Man by the throat and was trying to stop his reactor when he suddenly vanished and changed timelines, so it’s safe to assume it was during their final fight, right before (or during) Peter delivered his speech.

Once in the MCU, Holland’s Peter Parker decided to find a cure for the villains instead of fighting them, and the first one to be cured was Doc Ock, who ended up serving as an ally to the Peter Parkers. Now, Doc Ock might have returned to his universe immediately after his disappearance, thus why his sudden change at the end of Spider-Man 2. The theory is supported by how Doc Ock’s expression changes in that scene of Spider-Man 2, as that could be the exact moment he came back to his universe, cured and in control of the tentacles, and so he made a drastic decision in order to save the city.

How This Theory Changes Doc Ock’s Story

It has been assumed that Doc Ock’s fate didn’t change even after being cured in No Way Home, but this theory makes his tragic fate a lot sadder. Before No Way Home, it was understood that Doc Ock had a brief moment of clarity and control in which he could make the tentacles obey him and thus sacrifice himself, but if at that moment he was a recently cured Doc Ock coming back to his universe, his death is a lot sadder as he had no choice than to die, and didn’t get to live his life as a recovered man.

How No Way Home Changed The Other Villains’ Fates

Another Reddit user suggests that something similar happened with the first Spider-Man movie, and the Green Goblin vanished right before he was hit by the glider and returned immediately after, and it was a cured Norman who said “oh” before he died. However, there’s no hint in No Way Home of the exact moment when the Green Goblin disappeared from his timeline, so supposing it wasn’t right before his death, Norman Osborn might have received the treatment he needed to make a full recovery and, most importantly, Harry wouldn’t have a reason to hate Peter and wouldn’t turn into the New Goblin. As it’s also unclear when Sandman disappeared during the events of Spider-Man 3, it’s understood he had a happy ending as a free man, while Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man would have been in prison, but as a human again.

Electro might have also had a brighter fate in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 after being cured in No Way Home, supposing he wasn’t about to be struck by a load of electricity when he vanished from his universe. Electro, then, could have become an ally of Garfield’s Spider-Man, and might have even helped him save Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). By curing all these villains, Spider-Man: No Way Home might have changed the fates of most of them, depending on when they disappeared and return to their universes, but in Doc Ock’s case, his story might have become even more tragic.