Are Spider-Man & Doc Ock Working Together in No Way Home?

Are Doc Ock and Spider-Man allies in Spider-Man: No Way Home? Thanks to the most recent Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer we now have a much better idea of the movie’s plot, with the footage offering several intriguing clues regarding the relationship between Alfred Molina’s returning villain, Doctor Octopus, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. While the new footage offers a further look at Doc Ock’s entrance into the MCU, something which we glimpsed in the first trailer, trailer #2 expands on this, even hinting that the iconic villain and the Marvel hero will join forces to take on a surprising common enemy…Doctor Strange.

The newest Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer has provided a much more detailed look at the movie, including many of the previously mysterious motivations, and clearly shows that Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus does not recognise Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. While the two still seemingly exchange blows, the not-so-good Doctor is later shown imprisoned, and seems oddly calm, which could suggest that he will be more concerned with working out what exactly is going on, rather than fighting with a Spider-Man he does not even know.

As we already know,Spider-Man: No Way Home finds Peter Parker asking Doctor Strange to help make his identity as Spider-Man a secret following its public revelation, which leads to the madness of the multiverse being unleashed. This has, rather understandably, irked The Sorcerer Supreme, particularly when many of the villains who have returned should be dead and are thus destined to die at the hands of Spider-Man. As shown in the trailer, this is something that Holland’s Peter Parker strongly disagrees with, and could very well lead to the web-slinger and Doc Ock teaming up in order to stop Doctor Strange from sending the various characters to their doom.

A feud between Spider-Man and Doctor Strange tracks with how Tom Holland described the relationship between the two Avengers recently, with the actor saying, “It’s a very different relationship [from Tony Stark and Peter Parker]. I wouldn’t consider Doctor Strange as a mentor in this film – it’s more as a colleague. At this point in the films, Spider-Man has established himself as quite a powerful and serious Avenger. Doctor Strange sees that in him, and treats him like an equal.” Unfortunately, this collegial bond will not last, with Holland adding that “throughout the course of the film, their relationship breaks down. And rather than becoming colleagues – they don’t become enemies, but they’re definitely not friends.”

While Tom Holland does not go so far as to call them enemies, there are several instances of Parker and Strange coming to blows, once aboard a train and again when Parker steals a mysterious box stamped with the Seal of the Vishanti, which protects the Sanctum from most supernatural invaders.

Whatever happens, and in spite of all the ongoing rumors, Spider-Man: No Way Home looks to be full of crowd-pleasing surprises as the madness of the multiverse crashes into the MCU. Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 17, 2021, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. You can search for other clues surrounding Doc Ock’s arrivel in the new trailer courtesy of Marvel.