Show Doc Ock and Daily Bugle Props for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man

Doctor Octopus’ story in Spider-Man: No Way Home ends with his redemption and a surprising payoff to his intended appearance in 2008’s Iron Man. The San Diego Comic-Con Museum’s brand new Spider-Man.

Doctor Octopus returns in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and his heartwarming ending is a surprising payoff to a planned appearance in 2008’s Iron Man. Although Marvel Studios, the in-house film division of Marvel Comics, didn’t have the film right to all of its characters when initiating the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Otto Octavius of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man universe was, at one point, going to appear in Iron Man, tying the franchises together.

Doc Ock’s claws and props from the Daily Bugle are on display from Sam Raimi’s trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. Featured alongside several valuable comics and props from other films, costume pieces from Doctor Octopus are featured alongside artwork of some of the villain’s most iconic battles with Spider-Man from the comics.

July 1st, SDCC’s Comic-Con Museum and its new exhibit Beyond Amazing is open to the public. Located in Balboa Park, the Comic-Con Museum is only a short drive away from Hall H where SDCC annually hosts the biggest pop culture announcements from several major studios. Now, the Comic-Con Museum is open daily with its new Spider-Man exhibit and will remain open until January 3rd. Co-curated by Professor Ben Saunders and Patrick A.

The Beyond Amazing exhibition will also host Spider-Man’s induction into SDCC’s character Hall of Fame on July 20th. Taking guests through an interactive timeline of Spider-Man’s 60-year history, multiple pieces from comics, film, television, video games and collectibles are all on display representing the Webslinger’s massive impact on pop culture. Spider-Man’s villains are also featured such as the Green Goblin, Lizard, Venom, and more. However, Doctor Octopus gets quite a bit more representation in the new exhibition. Not only does he have his own statue with arms that guests can pose with, but one of his claws and goggles from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 are on display as well. Likewise, more props from the Raimi Spider-Man.

Doctor Otto Octavius in Spider-Man 2, he recently made a new appearance in the MCU with December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Arriving with other villains from the Raimi trilogy as well as foes from the Amazing Spider-Man films, Doc Ock actually helps all 3 versions of Spider-Man following his inhibitor chip being repaired by the MCU’s Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland).

A version of J. Jonah Jameson (still played by J.K Simmons) and the Daily Bugle now exist in the MCU as well. Believing the lies of Mysterio, Jameson has made it his mission to continue villainizing Spider-Man in No Way Home, making him out to be a menace and a threat to New York. At any rate, these iconic pieces of Spider-Man movie history are incredibly fun and exciting to see at the new SDCC exhibit, especially with Doc Ock’s recent return to the big screen 17 years later. The same can be said about the Daily Bugle now that the MCU has its own iteration inspired by the one seen in the original Raimi trilogy.

Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus regains control of his mechanical tentacles and his mind, sacrificing himself to destroy his fusion generator. In No Way Home, Doc Ock is sent back to his old timeline (thus creating a new branching timeline from the canonical Spider-Man trilogy) with his mind restored, albeit only a few minutes before he would have redeemed himself anyway, making his demise seemingly inevitable. Octavius brought a miniature Stark Industries arc reactor back with him, however, which not only means he’ll likely deactivate his reactor another way (allowing him to survive and perhaps use the arc reactor to benefit his universe), but also that his intended crossover with Iron Man was referenced in a way.

Iron Man’s early development, Otto Octavius and Tony Stark would have collaborated on the former’s signature cephalopod-like tentacles, with Tony Stark making the arms themselves and Octavius developing the inhibitor chip to ensure he controls them instead of vice versa. This fascinating connection was prevented by Sony owning the right to Doctor Octopus, but No Way Home finally made good on this connection.