A scientist whose safety device failed, leaving four intelligent arms attached to his spine with opinions of their own.
Doctor Octopus is the best-constructed antagonist in the Raimi films because he is Peter’s mentor first. Alfred Molina plays a warm, funny man who is genuinely kind to a student, and the film spends real time on that before the accident that removes the inhibitor chip and lets the arms talk.
His return in No Way Home is the film’s clearest statement of intent: the plan is not to defeat these people, it is to fix them, and he is the first one it works on.