Morbius star Jared Harris has debunked a major theory from the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff and confirmed he's definitely not playing Doctor Otto Octavius.
With rumors swirling that Harris' mysterious, unnamed mentor character could actually be the longtime Spidey villain, Variety asked the actor outright if he was playing Doc Ock and he flatly responded, "No." Of course, he could simply be keeping one of Morbius' biggest twists a secret, but one would expect a more coy response than firm denial if that were the case.
"I love the imagination that the fans have, it’s exciting for me to think about the imagination [that] fans have," he continued. "But yeah no, it’s not."
While Harris went on to praise the first Morbius trailer, he remained "tight-lipped" on any other details, suggesting he might still have a few surprises up his sleeve.
Alfred Molina famously played Doc Ock back in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 and was regarded as one of the sequel's highlights. The character didn't appear in Jon Watts' rebooted Amazing Spider-Man series and has yet to pop up in Disney's ongoing franchise with Tom Holland. However, fans might recall Octavius' mechanical arms were teased at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While this was intended to help set up a Sinister Six film, those ambitions never came to pass.
That said, with Harris' character uttering the cryptic line of, "Until the remedy is worse than the disease," he could easily have a sinister edge. After all, Hollywood is no stranger to seemingly heroic father figures turning on their protégés or having an ulterior motive.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius stars Jared Leto as the titular character, Matt Smith as Loxias Crown, Adria Arjona as Martine Bancroft, Tyrese Gibson as Agent Stroud and Jared Harris in an undisclosed role. The film arrives July 31.