Doctor Octopus
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Doctor Octopus (Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius), also known as Doc Ock for short, is a
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
al
character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
appearing in
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. The character was created by
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
and
Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
and first appeared in ''
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' #3 (July 1963). He is a highly intelligent,
myopic Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...
, and somewhat stocky
mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or " insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly a ...
who sports four strong and durable appendages resembling an
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
's tentacles, which extend from the back of his body and can be used for various purposes. After his mechanical harness became permanently fused to his body during a lab accident, he turned to a life of crime, and came into conflict with the
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
. He has endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent villains, and is regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside the
Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known incarnation Norman Osborn, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, is generally regarded as one of the a ...
and
Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
. He is the founder and leader of the
Sinister Six Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction "left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see dex ...
, the first
supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...
team to oppose Spider-Man. While usually portrayed as a
supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...
, Doctor Octopus has also been occasionally depicted as a conflicted
antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...
and ally of Spider-Man. Following Spider-Man's death in the 2012 storyline "
Dying Wish "Dying Wish" is a 2012 comic book storyline in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', published by Marvel Comics. The story began with a prologue in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #698 and ended in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #700, the final issue of that series, ...
", which saw a dying Octavius swapping bodies with the hero and letting him die in his original body, Octavius was motivated to prove he could be a better Spider-Man. As such, he adopted the Superior Spider-Man alias, introduced in '' Avenging Spider-Man'' #15.1 following a cameo in '' Daredevil'' vol. 3 #21 (both December 2012). The Superior Spider-Man possesses all of the original Spider-Man's abilities, memories, and equipment, along with additional gadgets created by Octavius, though he often struggles to live up to his predecessor's legacy and turn his life around after being a villain for years. In 2013, Marvel launched a 45-issue ''
The Superior Spider-Man ''The Superior Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics that ran between January 2013 and September 2014. It was written by Dan Slott, with artwork by Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos, and Giuseppe Camuncoli. The seri ...
'' comic book series focusing on the character's redemption and superhero career. The original Spider-Man has since been resurrected after the death of Otto Octavius. Following ''
Spider-Verse "Spider-Verse" is a 2014– 15 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It features multiple alternative versions of Spider-Man that had appeared in various media, all under attack by Morlun and his family, the Inheritors. The event ...
'', a copy of his consciousness became a villain, though a second volume of ''The Superior Spider-Man'' launched in 2018 saw the duplicate taking on the mantle before returning to the Doctor Octopus mantle as an
antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...
. Comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy writes of the character: "Created by
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
and artist
Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
, Doc Ock, as he became known, has become one of the web-slinger's most persistent, enduring, and dangerous foes." A fan favorite character and well-known figure in
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, Doctor Octopus has been featured in various media adaptations of Spider-Man over the years, including feature films, television series, and video games.
Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...
portrayed the character in the films ''
Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...
'' (2004) and '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021). In the animated ''Spider-Verse'' films,
Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
voiced a female version of Doctor Octopus named Olivia Octavius in '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' (2018), while an alternate Otto Octavius as the Superior Spider-Man will appear in its sequel, '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' (2023).
William Salyers William Lewis Salyers (born August 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his vocal performances, such as Reverend Putty on ''Moral Orel'', List of Regular Show characters#Rigby, Rigby on ''Regular Show'' and Doctor Octop ...
voices the character in the '' Marvel's Spider-Man'' video game series and '' Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order'' (2019). In 2009, ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' ranked Doctor Octopus 28th in the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time, and in 2014 rated him Spider-Man's greatest enemy.


Publication history

Doctor Octopus first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #3 (July 1963), created by writer
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
and artist
Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
.DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 93: "Dr. Octopus shared many traits with Peter Parker. They were both shy, both interested in science, and both had trouble relating to women ... Otto Octavius even looked like a grown up Peter Parker. Lee and Ditko intended Otto to be the man Peter might have become if he had not been raised with a sense of responsibility.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #3. Marvel Comics. Lee recounted: "Usually in creating a villain the first thing I would think of was a name, and then I would try to think of, 'Well, now that I've got the name, who's the character going to be and what will he do?' For some reason, I thought of an octopus. I thought, 'I want to call somebody Octopus. And I want him to have a couple of extra arms just for fun'. But I had to figure out how to do that". The character reappeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #11-12, then again in #31-33. Doctor Octopus is regarded as one of Spider-Man's most infamous enemies. He has been cited as the man Peter might have become if he had not been raised with a sense of responsibility. He is infamous for defeating Spider-Man the first time in battle and for almost marrying Peter's
Aunt May Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
. He is also the founder and core leader of the
Sinister Six Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction "left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see dex ...
, and has referred himself as the "Master Planner". (" If This Be My Destiny...!") Later depictions revealed him in Peter Parker's body where he was the titular character from 2013 to 2014. In 2018, he returned as the Superior Spider-Man in a series written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Mike Hawthorne.


Fictional character biography

Born in
Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, New York, Otto Octavius had a turbulent upbringing. His father Torbert Octavius, a factory worker, was abusive and violent towards both Otto and his mother Mary Lavinia Octavius. The young Octavius's shyness and good work in school got him labeled as a "teacher's pet" and targeted as a subject for bullying. Torbert did not appreciate having a bullied son, and roared at him to use violence in dealing with the bullies. Mary Octavius would always defend her son from Torbert's
tirade Invective (from Middle English ''invectif'', or Old French and Late Latin ''invectus'') is abusive, reproachful, or venomous language used to express blame or censure; or, a form of rude expression or discourse intended to offend or hurt; vitupera ...
s, saying he was a gifted thinker who would use his brain to solve problems, not his fists. Due to his mother's insistence and her disgust towards men who worked in common manual labor, Octavius was determined not to become like his father and threw all his efforts into his education, regularly scoring top marks. Octavius's devotion to study paid off with him being awarded a
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...
. During Octavius's freshman year of college, he was undecided in his studies until they were briefly interrupted by his father's funeral; a construction accident having ended Torbert's life. When Mary remarked that "an early death is a manual laborer's" and she expected better from her son, this seemed to spur an obsession in Octavius about the hard sciences, and he declared his major to be physical science. His obsession, however, did not manifest immediately, and he was regarded by his school friends as a devoted student who was genuinely interested in the studies. He graduated near the top of his class, and was considered a catch to many scientific firms. Octavius was soon hired by an engineering firm. Octavius became a brilliant and respected nuclear physicist, atomic research consultant,
inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
and
lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
. He designed a set of highly advanced mechanical arms controlled via a
brain–computer interface A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI) or smartbrain, is a direct communication pathway between the brain, brain's electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic l ...
to assist him with his research into atomic physics. The tentacle-like arms were resistant to radiation and were capable of great strength and highly precise movement, attached to a harness that fit around his body. Later in his criminal career, he claimed the inspiration for the device came from the ''
Vitruvian Man The ''Vitruvian Man'' ( it, L'uomo vitruviano; ) is a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to . Inspired by the writings by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, the drawing depicts a nude man in two s ...
'', the famous pencil sketch by
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, one of his idols. Though his relationship with co-workers was typically hostile, he was social enough to give a demonstration of his harness to a small group. He showed how the metal tentacles allowed him to work safely with chemicals that would normally be too dangerous for a human being to touch or be in close vicinity to. One such person impressed by this was a scientist named Mary Alice Anders, and the two soon dated. In due time, Otto proposed marriage to Mary Alice. However, when Otto joyously announced his future marriage to his mother, her feelings were not reciprocated. Believing that no woman was good enough for her son, she made him feel guilty that she was going to be pushed aside for his bride-to-be. Shocked that he hurt his mother, and to please her, Otto broke off the engagement with Mary Alice. Later, when he discovered that his mother had begun dating a librarian, he rebuked her, causing her to have a fatal heart attack in the heat of their argument. With the death of his mother and Mary Alice Anders out of his life, Octavius' disposition towards nearly everyone became mean-spirited, and he had become more distracted from paying attention to detail and safety precautions in his work. His co-workers often called him "Doctor Octopus" behind his back, a pun on his actual name inspired by the four-armed apparatus; he was aware of this insult, but he barely cared.


Criminal career begins

During an accidental radiation leak that ended in an explosion, the apparatus became fused to Octavius's body. It was later revealed that the radiation (or possibly his own latent mutation) had mutated his brain so that he could control the movement of the arms using his thoughts alone. The tentacles have since been surgically removed from his body, although Octavius retains the power to control them telepathically from great distances. The accident also seemingly damaged his brain (although it was later suggested that what was interpreted as brain damage was, in fact, his mind rewiring itself to accommodate four extra limbs), and the scientist turned to a life of crime, first taking the hospital hostage and calling himself "Doctor Octopus" from the derogatory name that his co-workers had given him. Though Doctor Octopus himself is portly, in poor physical shape, and is
near-sighted Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...
, with his harness attached he is physically more than a match for Spider-Man. The accident also made his eyes very sensitive to light, requiring him to wear glasses with shaded lenses. In their first encounter, Doctor Octopus defeated Spider-Man, tossing him out of a window. Following this defeat, Spider-Man considered giving up his heroic career but was inspired to continue by the
Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...
, and ultimately defeated Doctor Octopus. Over the years, Doctor Octopus has become one of the most identifiable members of Spider-Man's rogues gallery. Doctor Octopus formed the original
Sinister Six Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction "left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see dex ...
to fight Spider-Man after taking Betty Brant and
May Parker Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
hostage. He has led subsequent Sinister Six groups and usually takes offense when someone else leads the team. Disguised as the Master Planner, he organized theft of atomic equipment. After he stole a formula that Spider-Man needed to cure his Aunt May, Spider-Man tracked Doctor Octopus' gang to their base. In the ensuing fight, Spider-Man became trapped underneath a collapsed building. Seemingly doomed, Spider-Man was ultimately able to draw upon the sheer force of his will to summon the strength to escape. It is later revealed he used a scuba tank to escape. Doctor Octopus later attempts to steal the Defense Department's Nullifier device, and sets a trap for Spider-Man. He became
May Parker Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
's tenant, then got close enough to use the Nullifier on Spider-Man; although he had hoped that it would merely nullify Spider-Man's web-shooters, the radiation in Spider-Man's blood resulted in the Nullifier's interaction with Spider-Man's unique biology rendering him amnesiac, Doctor Octopus subsequently tricking Spider-Man into helping him before Spider-Man's own better nature resulted in him turning against his 'partner' despite his memory loss long enough for John Jameson to use the Nullifier to shut down his tentacles. Doctor Octopus later exhibited the ability to activate his mechanical arms remotely, and used them to free himself from prison. His resulting battle with Spider-Man resulted in Captain
George Stacy George Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories depicting the superhero Spider-Man. He is Gwen Stacy's father and a former police captain from the New York City Police Departm ...
's death. Doctor Octopus later waged a gang war with Hammerhead. He attempted to wed May Parker in order to acquire an island with an atomic plant which she had recently (and unknowingly) inherited. Doctor Octopus escaped death when the island was destroyed in a thermonuclear explosion and began a life as a homeless person. He next battled the "ghost" of Hammerhead, unwittingly returned him to his corporeal form using a particle accelerator and defeated him after forming a temporary alliance with Spider-Man. Doctor Octopus later attempted to hijack an atomic submarine. He also attempted to poison New York City with printers' ink, and battled the
Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...
and Spider-Man. He next battled the
Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
and his gang. He successfully deactivated a nuclear reactor in a laboratory before meltdown. He later displayed symptoms which
Mister Fantastic Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace a ...
diagnosed as multiple personality disorder.''Fantastic Four'' #267. Marvel Comics. During the "
Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...
" storyline, Doctor Octopus was taken to the
Beyonder The Beyonder () is a fictional cosmic entity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Jim Shooter and artist Mike Zeck, the Beyonder first appeared in ''Secret Wars'' #1 (May 1984) as an unseen, self-procla ...
's
Battleworld Battleworld is a fictional patchwork planet appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The first Battleworld debuted in the ''Secret Wars'' crossover where it was created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck. The ...
, where he fought a horde of heroes and plotted against Doctor Doom for the leadership of the group of villains. He was able to defeat the
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
, until
Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
came to the mutants' aid.


Arachnophobia

His crowning achievement of evil was the near-fatal beating of the
Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...
(Spider-Man's then-partner) which led to Spider-Man beating Doctor Octopus to within an inch of his life. The trauma of the beating he received from Spider-Man left Otto Octavius afraid of Spider-Man and spiders in general for years, and he needed to be treated for his acute arachnophobia. Spider-Man was forced to let his nemesis beat him in combat so as to allow Octavius to break free of his fears and recruit him to save
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
from an exploding nuclear reactor; Octavius had been planning to detonate the reactor to kill Spider-Man indirectly, but after his out-of-control arms beat Spider-Man seemingly senseless, Spider-Man convinced him to shut down the reactor to ensure that there were witnesses to his 'great triumph'. Octavius decided to let Spider-Man live on the grounds that he would now have to cope with the same humiliation he had endured.


"Death" and resurrection

During the "
Clone Saga The "Clone Saga" is an extended comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics, revolving around the superhero Spider-Man and clones of him, as well as of other characters. The second and best-known story arc of this name ran from October 1994 t ...
", Doctor Octopus saved Spider-Man from certain death from a poison injected by the
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
, although this was only because ''he'' desired to be the one to kill Spider-Man. During the healing process, he discovered Spider-Man's identity and then allowed himself to be taken in by police, expecting to be saved by his accomplice/lover Stunner. However, Stunner was knocked out and Doctor Octopus was murdered by the insane Spider-Man clone Kaine. Carolyn Trainer took over as "Doctor Octopus" until her teacher was resurrected by a branch of the mystical
ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...
cult known as the
Hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...
. Upon his resurrection, it was revealed that he now had no knowledge of Spider-Man's identity, as the memories he gained came from a computer chip provided by Carolyn Trainer, and the memory of Spider-Man's identity had not been recorded at the time of his death.


Subsequent schemes

In later years, Octavius attempted to create his own personal assassin in the form of a villainous mutated entity he dubbed "
Spider-Woman Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and original version is Jessica Drew (later impersonated by Veranke), the second version is Julia Carpenter, and the third vers ...
". He has also had to deal with another usurper, in the form of arrogant young businessman and con artist Luke Carlyle, who pretended to employ Octavius at his company. Tiring of his life of crime and wishing to return to an engineering career, Octavius accepted the offer. This proved to be a ruse, and Carlyle subdued Doctor Octopus and stole his technology, using it to create his own version of Octavius' harness and tentacles. During a prolonged battle with Octavius and Spider-Man, Carlyle was defeated when Doctor Octopus ripped open his suit, allowing Spider-Man to fill Carlyle's suit with webbing, although Doctor Octopus informed his enemy that he only did this to hurt Carlyle rather than to help Spider-Man. Then, Doctor Octopus took the ambassador of the newly formed Free Palestinian State hostage, demanding that in exchange for the ambassador's freedom, Spider-Man would meet him in Times Square and unmask himself in front of the world. When Spider-Man went to Times Square, he pulled off his mask to reveal another mask, angering Octavius enough to distract him from the release of the ambassador by agents of the Israeli Secret Service. Doctor Octopus was taken to Ryker's Island and was drugged and brainwashed to kill the
Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known incarnation Norman Osborn, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, is generally regarded as one of the a ...
. He interrupted a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin on the
Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
, and the two villains were struck by lightning and fell into the river below. Octopus was dragged out days later with no memory of the event and missing two months of his life. While hiding in a plant that was owned by the villain Fusion, Octavius was apparently forced to work for Fusion in helping him recover the 'John Hancock' satellite, once used to find nuclear weapons but now capable of finding potentially radioactive superhumans such as the Hulk or Spider-Man. Although Fusion had apparently forced Octavius into submission, Octavius eventually revealed that he had merely been faking his submission so that Fusion could do all the hard work of finding the satellite for Octavius to sell off, subsequently beating Fusion half to death and attempting to sell the satellite himself before he was caught and defeated by Spider-Man.


''Civil War''

Octavius unsuccessfully tried to form and lead another version of the
Sinister Six Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction "left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see dex ...
, because
Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
's
Secret Avengers ''Secret Avengers'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring a fictional black ops superhero team of the same name. The series started with Ed Brubaker on writing duties, depicting a black-ops sect of Marvel's premie ...
managed to defeat the villainous group, although Doctor Octopus himself eluded authorities. In ''Sensational Spider-Man'' #28, Doctor Octopus is seen viewing a telecast of Peter Parker revealing himself to be Spider-Man. Doctor Octopus then goes rampaging throughout the city, in utter disbelief that not only was he beaten numerous times by a teenager, but of the lost opportunity he had when he unmasked Parker in their second encounter (at the time, Octavius assumed he was an impostor). He is again defeated by Spider-Man, who confronts Doctor Octopus unmasked, after two of Peter's students distract Octavius. He is then sent to
Baron Zemo Baron Zemo () is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Heinrich Zemo and his son Helmut Zemo have both been depicted as a major adversary of Captain America and the Avengers, as well as t ...
's supervillain detention facility (as seen in '' Thunderbolts'' #104 and ''
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
'' (vol. 4) #14). Later, Spider-Man contacts Octavius to see if he can help with Aunt May's condition.


Dying

When Doctor Octopus learns that he is dying due to the years of punishment his body took in his villainous career, facing superhuman foes when he is fundamentally human once getting past the tentacles, he becomes increasingly despondent and brazen in his final plans. Intending to leave a lasting legacy, he attempts to exert control over New York City by using his newly minted Octobots, but while he consciously intends to help, his subconscious drives him to turn the city's resources against Spider-Man, and he also targets May Parker aggressively (deeming her guilty of being due to marry J. Jonah Jameson's father J. Jonah Jameson, Sr.), subtly disrupting the planned marriage. Spider-Man is eventually able to take control of Octavius's planned network, forcing Octavius to flee while vowing revenge.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #600. Marvel Comics. In his desperate attempts to prolong his life, Octavius reforms the Sinister Six, wishing to acquire Menace's unborn son, hoping to synthesize a pure strain of the Goblin Serum, only to be thwarted again by the efforts of Spider-Man and the guilty conscience of the Lizard, reigniting his bitterness towards his foe, but gaining a grudging acknowledgment of his abilities.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #648. Marvel Comics. Octavius and Spider-Man keep crossing their ways during the following months, with the Avengers fighting a new iteration of the Sinister Six, Doctor Octopus sending a remote Octobot in John Jameson's shuttle, and Octavius contacting
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
to force him to find a cure for his degenerative condition. However, when Iron Man genuinely offers to have the brightest minds in the Marvel Universe find a viable cure, Octavius smugly refuses, in favor of witnessing Stark admit that he cannot do it and beg for mercy to disarm a device that Octavius had claimed was a bomb, basking in this "proof" of his (supposedly) superior intellect. His attempts to prolong his life, however, do not hinder a more vast and sinister plan, in which he has the Sinister Six fighting the
Avengers Academy ''Avengers Academy'' is a Marvel Comics comic book series that debuted in June 2010 as part of the " Heroic Age", and concluded after thirty-nine issues in November 2012. The series was written by Christos Gage, with artwork by Mike McKone and t ...
for a piece of
Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, the character first appeared in '' Tales ...
's technology, the
Future Foundation The Future Foundation is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Jonathan Hickman, the team first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #579 (July 2010) and stars in the series ''FF,'' wr ...
for a piece of Reed Richard's technology, and the Intelligencia for the ''Zero Cannon'', a powerful antigravity weapon, later revealing to have gained something useful from his early foray in John Jameson's shuttle. All this careful preparation came to fruition during the " Ends of the Earth" storyline, where the apparently mismatched pieces of technology stolen are used to build a satellite net, the ''Octavian Lens'', able to alter the world's climate by enhancing or smothering solar rays. Doctor Octopus at first claims to have a benevolent intent, wishing to halt the
greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...
in exchange for gratitude and recognition, but he is soon exposed by Spider-Man (having enhanced himself with new Horizon Labs-built tech),''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #683. Marvel Comics. the Black Widow and
Silver Sable Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...
, who provoke him into revealing his real plan: immolate a great part of the entire population to prevent anyone from surviving his impending death, having the survivors remember him in perpetual fear and awe. Playing over his ego, Spider-Man manages to stall him, by reminding him that, even if anyone managed to survive a drastic heating of the entire Earth, the survivors would likely be brain-damaged, and as such unable to remember his actions. Spider-Man then roughly defeats him, in retaliation for Silver Sable's death, openly mocking and berating his efforts by claiming that, because of the Octavian Lens' destruction and his declining health, he is now going to die alone, forgotten and without a legacy.


"Death" and rebirth

Even captivity and incarceration were unable to stop Octavius. Since Spider-Man was forced to access the Octobots' hive mind several times in previous months, he unwittingly gave Octavius a full, unrestricted access to his mind and as such he becomes able to program a lone Octobot to swap their mind pattern. Octavius is now in Peter Parker's body and able to access his foe's memories, but with none of his restraints content of living his civilian life and planning for his future, while his foe is now trapped in Octavius' failing body.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #698. Marvel Comics. Peter is able to recruit the
Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
,
Hydro-Man Hydro-Man (Morris "Morrie" Bench) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man. Once an ordinary crewman, Morris Bench was accidentally knocked overboard while stationed on ...
and the
Trapster Trapster (Peter Petruski), also known as Paste-Pot Pete, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character is one of the first supervillains who became active during the "Silver Ag ...
with the task of keeping him alive and capturing "Spider-Man" in an attempt to reverse the mind swap. However, the Trapster's portable life support can give Peter only 700 minutes to live. As such, Peter openly antagonizes "Spider-Man". While Peter's attempt to reclaim his body fails, he is able to imbue his nemesis with his very memories and values before apparently dying in Octavius' crippled body. Distraught, Octavius (in a sudden surge of empathy for his sworn nemesis) vows to steer himself away from villainy and accepts Peter's dying wish of having a Spider-Man protect New York. Octavius claims that, since he now holds the physical might and the good values embodied by Spider-Man but also the boundless ambition and the scientific mindframe of Doctor Octopus, he will surpass the "Amazing Spider-Man", becoming a " Superior Spider-Man".''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #700. Marvel Comics.


''The Superior Spider-Man''

Within Spider-Man's body, Octavius starts his new career as a hero by redesigning his gear and putting his past as a villain behind himself.''Avenging Spider-Man'' #15.1. Marvel Comics. However, he soon finds himself the target of several villains, such as an Octavius-tech enhanced
Stilt-Man Stilt-Man is the name of multiple different supervillains in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Stilt-Man first appeared in ''Daredevil'' #8 (June 1965). He is a criminal wearing an impenetrable suit of armor wi ...
,''Daredevil'' #22. Marvel Comics.
Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
, Overdrive, the Shocker, the Speed Demon, the new female
Beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
, and the
Living Brain The Living Brain is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the original Living Brain character first appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' # ...
,''The Superior Spider-Man'' #1. Marvel Comics. all of them trying to take over the place left by the seemingly-dead Doctor Octopus and his Sinister Six. While they are still no match for the new, more ruthless Spider-Man, his violence and new mannerisms start to tip off several of his close friends and allies, such as the whole staff of Horizon Labs, Daredevil,
Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...
(explicitly forbidden to have Spider-Man's mind telepathically scanned under the threat of legal action in court),
Mary Jane Watson Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man' ...
, and
Carlie Cooper Carlie Cooper is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics books. The character is named after Joe Quesada's daughter. She is friends with Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Vin Gonzales, and Lily Hollister. She ...
.''The Superior Spider-Man'' #2. Marvel Comics. Despite his accomplishments, Octavius is revealed to be still haunted by Peter Parker's lingering spirit, unable to reassert control over Spider-Man's shared body, but actively hampering his efforts to stray from Peter's values, and trying to reclaim his body. Despite Peter's lingering influence, Octavius's refusal of Peter's values and perceived screw-ups prompts him to "rectify" some mistakes: "Peter" enrolls back to college, pursuing actively the PhD Peter denied himself in the past, and breaks the self-imposed "no-kill rule" by taking a proactive stance against evildoers and criminals, shooting the villain
Massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
even after Massacre appeared to show signs of recovering from the brain damage that motivated his crimes, and violently assaulting the Jester and Screwball for a relatively minor insult. These actions prompted the Avengers to confront "Spider-Man" about his recent activities, recognizing that their friend would never act in such a manner. When their subsequent analysis confirms that he is still biologically Peter Parker, Octavius explains that he is merely dealing with stress over recent events. Attempting a mind-wipe of all of Peter's memories to destroy the living consciousness completely, Octavius manages to delete the ''Daily Bugle'' memory. Realizing Peter would not surrender, Octavius directly engages his foe in Spider-Man's mind. After beating Peter to a pulp by breaking his spirit with the knowledge Peter was willing let a girl named Amy come close to death when Octavius was performing surgery on her with a scanner that would have detected him, Octavius declares his final victory while calling Peter unworthy to be called Spider-Man and believes that he deleted all of Spider-Man's memories. Returning to the real world, Octavius rejoices from his belief that he is free and has achieved victory over Spider-Man.''The Superior Spider-Man'' #9. Marvel Comics. But this erasure has also deprived him of Spider-Man's memories, leaving it more difficult for him to pose as Spider-Man, with some of Peter's friends (such as Carlie, Mary Jane, and J. Jonah Jameson, Sr.) questioning Spider-Man's more brutal approach. While Octavius has developed more detailed resources than Peter possessed as Spider-Man, such as creating a small army of Spider-bots and Spiderling allies to assist him, as well as helping
Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...
trap the body-hopping mutant Malice in a specially-designed containment unit, he continues to resort to more questionable methods, such as killing
Alistair Smythe Alistair Alphonso Smythe () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man, and the son of Spencer Smythe. After his father dedicated his lif ...
, and blackmailing Jameson into giving him free rein in New York by threatening to expose the fact that Jameson asked him to do this. During a series of confrontations with his former allies in the Sinister Six, he also attempted to brainwash them into becoming his new 'team', resulting in him being forced to join forces with new hero
Sun Girl Sun Girl, in comics, may refer to: *Sun Girl (Marvel Comics) Sun Girl is the name of two fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The first Sun Girl was created by artist Ken Bald ...
when the Six snapped out of his control and tried to kill him. Octavius's focus on the larger scale also resulted in him missing the Green Goblin's efforts to establish a new criminal empire, with the Green Goblin rescuing criminals who have escaped Spider-Man and recruiting them into his new gang, as Octavius simply focused on the leaders whereas Peter would have tried to capture the whole gang. His fixation in proving himself Spider-Man's superior reached a particular climax when
Spider-Man 2099 Spider-Man 2099 is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992 for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, and is a futuristic re-imagin ...
came to the past to deal with a temporal anomaly, with Octavius becoming so fixated with solving the problem and keeping his identity secret that he actually attacked the future Spider-Man rather than ask for his help, his actions resulting in the destruction of Horizon Labs because he could not solve the
vibranium Vibranium () is a fictional metal appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, noted for its extraordinary abilities to absorb, store, and release large amounts of kinetic energy. Mined only in Wakanda, the metal is associated w ...
-related equations that Peter was able to resolve. Unknown to Octavius, Peter's memories managed to survive the deletion. When Octavius attempts to access Spider-Man's memories (because Octavius can only view memories that were looked at before the delete), Peter is shown lifting the 'rocks' off himself from the mental battle.''The Superior Spider-Man'' #19. Marvel Comics. When Carlie had found evidence that Doctor Octopus' mind is in Spider-Man's body, she mourns Peter in Doctor Octopus' grave. The grave then collapses and Carlie falls in where she discovers that Doctor Octopus' body is not there. After Carlie has been captured by Menace, the Goblin King receives Carlie's journal from Menace, where the Goblin King discovers evidence in it that states that Doctor Octopus' mind is in Spider-Man's body. Following him being possessed by the Venom symbiote, Octavius receives unexpected help from Peter Parker's consciousness, though Octavius is still unaware that Peter survived their mental duel. Peter decides to maintain a low profile until Octavius does something that will cause him to spring into action. Peter finds that Octavius's delete has left him with very few memories of his own, but after realizing those he still has are the ones that define him, vows not to give up, and that he will regain control of his body. The Superior Spider-Man finds himself facing the full force of the Goblin Underground since the possession of the Venom symbiote 31 days ago. When the Superior Spider-Man finally confronts the Goblin King, he mentions that he knows about Doctor Octopus' mind-swap with Spider-Man. The Goblin King then makes his next move by having missiles targeted at Spider-Island II. Octavius survived the bombardment and escaped with the Living Brain. He then tries to find the Goblin King; however, before he can do so, Menace takes supporting character Anna Maria Marconi hostage. Meanwhile, the Goblin destroys all the buildings that mean something to Octavius, to punish him for robbing the Goblin of his dream: Killing Spider-Man. Octavius is lured to Empire State University, where he finds Don Lamaze. During the ensuing fight, Lamaze takes a blade meant for Octavius and dies in the Superior Spider-Man's arms. Heading to Alchemax, he is confronted by Spider-Man 2099, who takes control of the Spider-Slayers and demands answers. However, before he gets them, the Goblin King reactivates the Slayers to kill the Spiders, stating Norman Osborn now rules New York. Although he manages to escape, Octavius is forced to realize that he has failed in his goal to be a 'Superior' Spider-Man when the restored Peter Parker takes over to save a child from a runaway train where Octavius hesitated, reflecting that he is aware of his fundamental inferiority, as he overcompensates while Peter holds himself back, but acts when he has to. Octavius then willingly deletes his own consciousness so that Peter can regain control of his body. As Octavius's last memories fade, it is shown he had really fallen in love with Anna Maria, much to Peter's surprise. Octavius tells Peter he is willing to give up his love to keep her safe - something only Peter can do as the ''true'' Superior Spider-Man - and urges the hero to save New York in his place.''The Superior Spider-Man'' #30. Marvel Comics.


''Spider-Verse''

In the run-up to ''
Spider-Verse "Spider-Verse" is a 2014– 15 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It features multiple alternative versions of Spider-Man that had appeared in various media, all under attack by Morlun and his family, the Inheritors. The event ...
'', Octavius was sent to the year 2099 by accident while dealing with the temporal anomalies caused by Horizon's time portal. Trapped in the future, he attempted to return home by creating a dimensional portal, but found himself travelling to various alternate universes – including one where Spider-Man joined the
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
and a variation of the
House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book Limited series (comics), limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of fictiona ...
– where all the Spider-Men were dead. Realizing that something was hunting Spider-Men across other dimensions, Octavius began to gather some of the more ruthless Spider-Men into a team that could oppose whatever was killing them, including Spider-Man Noir, a multi-armed Spider-Man, Pavitr Prabhakar, and a Peter Parker working in black ops with Wolverine. As the crisis unfolds, Octavius takes command of a group of alternate Spider-Men, considering himself particularly qualified to lead them due to his unique nature and willingness to kill, but when his team is confronted by another group led by the Peter Parker of Earth-616 – who Octavius presumes is a past Peter as he cannot contemplate the possibility that he will fail- he is forced to concede to Peter's leadership when Peter defeats him in a fight, Peter stating that killing Morlun and the Inheritors is not the answer, as they will just come back, and they need a new plan. Although he realizes that Peter comes from his future when Peter recognizes Anna Maria's name, Otto is forced to acknowledge his own failures when he learns that another Earth where Ben Parker was the Spider-Totem was reduced to a nuclear wasteland due to the actions of his own local counterpart.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (vol. 3) #13. Marvel Comics. To stop the Inheritors from traveling around the multiverse, hunting all animal totems as fast as possible, Octavius identified the Master Weaver as the source of their abilities to traverse the multiverse, and killed him. However, Morlun feared the consequences of this action, resulting in Karn, the surviving defected Inheritor, taking the Weaver's place (although it was noted that the Weaver was actually Karn's future self, creating a complex temporal paradox). Having learned that he was 'destined' to be replaced by Peter Parker, Octavius attempted to attack the multiversal web to 'save' himself from his destiny, claiming that he was giving the spiders the 'gift' of free will, but the Earth-616 spiders were able to defeat him as their surviving allies returned to their home dimensions. Before he departed, Octavius issued a time-delayed message to the Anna Maria program, intended to activate 100 days after he returned to his home time, but upon his return to his time, his memory of his time with the Spider-Army is erased, allowing history to unfold as it should.


''All-New, All-Different Marvel''

As part of the ''
All-New, All-Different Marvel All-New, All-Different Marvel (ANADM) is a 2015–2019 branding for Marvel Comics' entire main line of comics. Taking place after the crossover storyline " Secret Wars", it details the new Marvel Universe, with nearly 60–65 titles relaunched w ...
'' event, Otto Octavius is still dead but a copy of his consciousness is shown to be inside the Living Brain where he is still in love with Anna Maria Marconi. Following the events of ''Spider-Verse'', Otto Octavius had backed up his consciousness in one of his gauntlets (the Superior Spider-Man's web-shooters) that slept for 100 days using the technology he acquired from 2099. The gauntlet housed a copy of Octavius's consciousness up to the point of ''Spider-Verse'' (without the memories of learning about power and responsibility for his act of self-sacrifice in ''Goblin Nation'', as this copy would remain asleep during this time). After transforming the gauntlet into a version of an Octobot, he backed himself up in the Living Brain while waiting for the next opportunity to take over Parker's body again, planning to act at a time when Parker's spider-sense would be taxed so that he would miss the relevant signals.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (vol. 4) #18. Marvel Comics. At the time when the Living Brain was at Parker Industries' London branch, Doctor Octopus' consciousness expresses anger over being forced to act like their lackey. After Sajani Jaffrey is fired by Peter Parker for conspiring against him, Doctor Octopus' consciousness smirks as Anna is made the head of Parker Industries' London branch.


"Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy"

During the " Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" storyline, Peter decides to have Parker Industries get familiar with New U Enterprises' "New U" system, which is a program where replacement organs are cloned for those suffering from serious injuries. Upon hearing about it from within the Living Brain, Doctor Octopus' consciousness expresses an interest in the procedure. When Peter Parker scanned the Living Brain to find out why it was acting unusually, Doctor Octopus' consciousness asked why it was erased. Realizing the truth, Peter Parker shut down the Living Brain, only for Doctor Octopus' consciousness to reactivate it and cause it to self-destruct while escaping in the Octobot. Arriving at New U Enterprises, the Doctor Octopus-possessed Octobot plans to get his biological body back, convinced that the consciousness in Parker's body was "infected" by its time in Spider-Man to believe that Peter was superior rather than himself. Upon heading to Potter's Field, the Doctor Octopus-possessed Octobot finds that Doctor Octopus' body was grave-robbed, alongside those of Alistair Alphonso Smythe and other villains. It traces the grave robbery to New U Technologies. Finding Doctor Octopus' body, the Doctor Octopus-possessed Octobot allowed it to be cloned and perfected. After eliminating the copy of Peter Parker's consciousness, Doctor Octopus gains control of the clone body and emerges from the vat where he resembles his earlier appearance. The
Jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...
was present where he presents him with his tentacle pack. Now an ally of the Jackal, Doctor Octopus receives the special New U Pills to prevent his body from suffering clone degeneration.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (vol. 4) #20. Marvel Comics. When Spider-Man later infiltrates New U Technologies after witnessing video footage of one of its subjects suffering from cellular degeneration, he evades the initial security force, including the Rhino and the female Electro. When he discovers what appears to be Gwen Stacy, he is distracted long enough to be caught off-guard by the reborn Octavius, once again in his own body with new tentacles. With Spider-Man trapped in his tentacles, Doctor Octopus tells him that he is not a clone or a hologram, but the real Otto Octavius. After Silk escapes from New U Technologies, Doctor Octopus attacks Spectro who was unable to phase through the walls with the test subject. Doctor Octopus and Spectro fight until Electro arrives and knocks out Spectro. Doctor Octopus later experiments with Spectro and plans to put him into a cloned body. While studying the clones of Kaine and Electro in order to perfect the Proto-Clone, Anna Maria was brought to Otto and she becomes uncomfortable when Doctor Octopus starts appealing towards his love interest. When the Jackal enters the laboratory, Anna Maria reveals she knows how to stop the decaying process on the clones and the Jackal offers her the "Proto-Clone" body in exchange for the formula. Octavius takes offense to the Jackal's comments on Maria's dwarfism and attacks his boss. Then he pulls a switch which activates the Carrion Virus in all of the clones and causes them to start rapidly decaying. Doctor Octopus fights the Jackal to allow Peter and Anna Maria the time to transmit the frequency, Spider-Man correctly anticipating that Octavius would act to protect Anna regardless of their own history. The frequency has a huge effect on Doctor Octopus and the Jackal. Upon checking New U Technologies' Haven following the broadcast, Spider-Man and Anna Maria find that Ben Reilly, Doctor Octopus, and Gwen Stacy have been seemingly reduced to dust. It was later revealed that Doctor Octopus rendered Ben Reilly unconscious and escaped by transmitting his mind into the Proto-Clone (a perfect clone of Peter Parker) before Ben Reilly could.


Becoming the Superior Octopus

With his new body, Otto Octavius returns to one of his old bases only to find it is being occupied by HYDRA. He defeats the HYDRA soldiers, but is then recruited into HYDRA by
Arnim Zola Arnim Zola is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by Marvel Comics. He is a master of biochemistry and a recurring enemy of Captain America and the Avengers. The character first appeared in '' Captain America and the Falcon'' #208 ...
. Zola grants him the leadership of some HYDRA soldiers to work for him in arranging the destruction of
Parker Industries Parker Industries (also known as Parker Tech) was a former fictional multibillion-dollar conglomerate appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history It first appeared in ''The Superior Spider-Man'' #20 and was c ...
. With HYDRA's help, he creates a new uniform for himself, becoming the Superior Octopus, intending to wait for Peter's actions to trigger the collapse of Parker Industries so that he can retake his position and prove himself superior once again.''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (vol. 4) #25. Marvel Comics.


"Secret Empire"

During the 2017 " Secret Empire" storyline, the Superior Octopus appears as a leader of HYDRA's Avengers. Outside of his work with HYDRA's Avengers, the Superior Octopus approached Spider-Man, where he wants him to transfer ownership of Parker Industries back to him. When Peter Parker declined this offer, the Superior Octopus had the HYDRA agents in Parker Industries' London branch blow up the building. As Peter flees to the Shanghai branch of Parker Industries, Octavius attempts to implement various security protocols he had added to all Parker Industries tech that allows him to retake control of anything developed by the company, but Peter turns the tables on Octavius by ordering his employees to literally destroy the company in order to hurt HYDRA, thwarting Octavius' attempt to shut down his new high-tech suit with an EMP by reverting to his traditional costume and turning the EMP trick against Octavius so that his own tentacles attack him. Octavius is forced to flee the battle.


''Go Down Swinging'' and redemption

During the '' Go Down Swinging'' story arc where the Red Goblin (Norman Osborn who has powered himself up with the Carnage symbiote) attacks Spider-Man and all his friends and family, the Superior Octopus and J. Jonah Jameson help defend
Aunt May Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
as the Superior Octopus still retains some of Peter's memories and sense of responsibility. This concludes with Peter forgiving the Superior Octopus and giving him a "clean slate". In the aftermath of Osborn's defeat, the Superior Octopus reveals his new identity as Dr. Elliot Tolliver, a person who has just started working at Horizon University. He was seen applying for a job under Max Modell as Anna Maria starts acting suspicious towards Dr. Elliot Tolliver.


"Spider-Geddon"

During the "
Spider-Geddon ''Spider-Geddon'' is a 2018 comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics featuring multiple alternative versions of Spider-Man that had appeared in various media, and his supporting cast. In this sequel to ''Spi ...
" storyline, the Superior Octopus is seen fighting the Night Shift. The Superior Octopus agrees to spare them more pain in exchange for the Night Shift becoming his agents, where he will compensate them from his own funds. They agree to the terms and are ordered to return the stolen items. The Superior Octopus leaves, advising them never to cross him or they will not live long enough to regret it. After a day at Horizon University and saving some people on the Bay Bridge, the Superior Octopus fights Arnim Zola, a bio-duplicate of
Gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...
, and some HYDRA agents who seek to repossess his services to rebuild HYDRA. The Superior Octopus states that he is done with his end of the bargain and attacks them. When the Gorgon bio-duplicate turns the Superior Octopus to stone and shatters him, another Superior Octopus body emerges, where it destroys the Gorgon bio-duplicate and defeats
Arnim Zola Arnim Zola is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by Marvel Comics. He is a master of biochemistry and a recurring enemy of Captain America and the Avengers. The character first appeared in '' Captain America and the Falcon'' #208 ...
, while informing him to spread the word to HYDRA to never come for him again. The Superior Octopus' inner monologue states that he had perfected
Miles Warren The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
's cloning technology where each clone had to be made from the deceased in order to maintain their memories as a way to conquer death. However, after Octavius forces Count Nefaria into retreating from Los Angeles, he is confronted in his cloning workshop by the Spider-Army. They reveal that his cloning process has been 'hacked' by the Inheritors, who fed his computers hours-old data until they were ready to manifest, with these new Inheritors swiftly killing Spider-Man Noir and Spider-UK. Octavius then quotes "What have I done ..." After initiating his base's self-destruct sequence to slow down the Inheritors, the Superior Octopus states that they still should have killed the Inheritors while they had the chance. Upon heading to his lab at Horizon High to change into his Superior Spider-Man appearance, he goes to recruit Kaine and states that they should leave Ben Reilly out of the fight, since Jennix is targeting the cloning technology from the now-defunct New U Technologies. As the Superior Spider-Man and Kaine enter the portal, they are unaware that Ben Reilly has followed them. The Superior Spider-Man heads to Earth-1048 to recruit that world's Spider-Man, where he helps to defeat the Tarantula and learned about his counterpart. After Spider-Norman and Spiders-Man sundered Earth-616's connection to the Web of Life and Destiny, Octavius seemingly betrayed Ben, giving him to the Inheritors in exchange for the other Spiders being left alone. When Spider-Man of Earth-1048, who had been secretly following both Octavius and Ben from behind, believed Octavius made the same mistake as his counterpart in betraying their own, Octavius revealed to him that he and Ben purposely planned this to trick the Inheritors into consuming the clone that will drove them insane, starting from when he was forced to relive the memories of Ben's 29 deaths and resurrections. With the help from surviving Spider-Men who are trapped in Earth-616, including those who were trapped in another universe (including Kaine and 616's Peter), Octavius manages to resurrect Ben in his 30th resurrection. With the Inheritors turned into babies to be raised by Spider-Ma'am (Aunt May) for their redemption; the same goes for Morlun, who is currently in 616's high-security prison. Octavius resumes being the Superior Spider-Man.


''The Superior Spider-Man'' (vol. 2)

After the events of "Spider-Geddon", Octavius resumes his career as the Superior Spider-Man, protecting San Francisco with the hired assistance of the Night Shift. His identity as Dr. Elliot Tolliver is uncovered by Anna Maria, who confronts him with the rebuilt Living Brain. This is interrupted by the appearance of Terrax the Tamer. Using a machine to siphon a fraction of the Power Cosmic, Octavius defeats Terrac and passes out. While helping rebuild San Francisco and rescue survivors, the Octavius learns about humility and begins to connect with the people. Unbeknownst to him, Master Pandemonium emerges from the wreckage, planning to strike. When Master Pandemonium attacks, Octavius is forced to work with Doctor Strange to stop Pandemonium after he possesses his new associate Emma Hernandez. During "
The War of the Realms "The War of the Realms" is a 2019 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. The storyline has been met with positive reviews, with critics praising the storyline and the art. Premise The story details the heroes banding together when Malek ...
" storyline, the Superior Spider-Man worked to save the civilians from a Frost Giant invasion. Then he came up with the idea to work with the
West Coast Avengers The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in ''The West Coast Avengers'' #1 (Sept. 1984), created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall. It was the fi ...
in order to make use of America Chavez's powers. After rescuing them with his Octavian Lens, the Superior Spider-Man barely convinced them to help fight the Asgardian invasion at the source. They would have to go to New York City, since the Asgardian magic is interfering with America's powers. In the midst of the battle between the
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
and
Malekith the Accursed Malekith the Accursed () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, and has come into conflict with Thor. He once wielded the Casket of Ancient Wint ...
's forces, the Superior Spider-Man worked with Mister Fantastic to enable America Chavez to duplicate the Bifrost Bridge's energy. After the two of them failed to locate the strike team in Svartalfheim, the Superior Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic located the strike team in Jotunheim. Those in Jotunheim persuaded the Superior Spider-Man to focus on protecting Earth. The Superior Spider-Man returned to New York City to lead the West Coast Avengers in protecting the citizens. Once the War was over, Octavius confides that he feels guilty over being unable to save more people to Spider-Man, who comforts him. Unbeknownst to Octavius, he is being spied upon by one of the spiders that make up Spiders-Man on behalf of Spider-Osborn, who is planning revenge on him. Following a date with Emma, they notice a news leak that claiming that the Superior Spider-Man is really Doctor Octopus. Thus is denied by Spider-Man, Mister Fantastic, and Doctor Strange, who note his involvement in fighting the Frost Giants. The next day, Octavius admits to Max Modell that he is a clone. However, Modell reveals that he already knew. Upon analyzing the security footage of the leak, Octavius deduces that Spiders-Man was responsible. Spiders-Man then attacks them, but is subdued, and states that Spider-Osborn is safe on his world and that they will never reach him. Octavius, Anna Marie, and the Living Brain attempt to use the cosmic energies left over from the fight with Terrax to travel to Spider-Osborne's world, but it goes wrong and causes an explosion. Spider-Osborn then appears, revealing that he was on Earth-616 all along. He beats Octavius, and reveals that he plans to kill everyone that he cares about as revenge for insulting him. Spider-Osborn starts by capturing James Martin, stating that he will release the boy only if Octavius kills three citizens on camera so that people will see him as a fraud. Believing that he cannot win against Osborn, Octavius summons
Mephisto Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition. Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film * Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a German- ...
and asks him to restore him to his original form for a day so that he can fight Spider-Osborn. Mephisto rejects this and offers to permanently restore Octavius to his original body, without any of "flaws". Octavius accepts the deal, once again becoming Doctor Octopus. He attacks The Brothers Grimm as they collect their payment, demanding the location of Spider-Osborn. Octavius then defeats Spider-Osborn, throwing him back to his world. After briefly visiting Anna Maria and Emma at the hospital, he reveals that he has lost all memory of Spider-Man's identity. He cuts ties with the Night Shift and leaves, leaving his Superior Spider-Man outfit in the garbage.


Sinister War

At the time when Doctor Octopus was finding clues to some of his missing memories and found a casket in a grave empty, Kindred had one of his centipedes go into Doctor Octopus' ear and had him go unconscious. Kindred later told Doctor Octopus that he can help him with his memories, but he will need to gather five more people. At an unknown beach, Doctor Octopus helped Sandman with his loss of direction and promised to solve Sandman's immortality problem. Upon building a special machine, Doctor Octopus resurrects Electro with his powers intact as Kindred comments on Electro's abilities while stating that Doctor Octopus is getting closer to his true self. Doctor Octopus and Electro find
Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversary to ...
in the
Savage Land The Savage Land is a hidden prehistoric land appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is a tropical preserve hidden in Antarctica. It has appeared in many story arcs in ''Uncanny X-Men'' as well as other related books. ...
hunting a dinosaur. When Electro shocks the dinosaur, Doctor Octopus recruits Kraven the Hunter into the Sinister Six by promising him to hunt down the Lizard. In the "
Sinister War "Sinister War" is a 2021 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, starring the character Spider-Man and written by Nick Spencer. The story deals with Spider-Man being in the middle of a conflict between multiple teams of villains, includ ...
" storyline, Doctor Octopus coerces Dr. Curt Connors into using the Isotope Particle Accelerator on himself which separates Lizard from Dr. Connors. While in the Osborn Graveyard, Doctor Octopus demands that Kindred gives him the answers he seeks. Kindred states to Doctor Octopus that he'll get the answers soon as he adds Mysterio to the latest incarnation to the Sinister Six. In truth, Doctor Octopus secretly prepares a sonic transducer to destroy Kindred's centipedes, at cost of knocking the rest of Spider-Man's past foes, while saving them as well from hunting Spider-Man before the centipedes devoured their brains. To do so, Otto took a centipede from an undead Sin-Eater's brain and used it on his transducer to both knock out and save Spider-Man's past foes, barring Spider-Man and himself, while Boomerang was killed by Morlun when trying to save Spider-Man. Before splitting up, Otto urges Peter to make himself scarce and continue to fight Kindred safely before the surviving factions could recover, as most of them would still want to kill him.


Beyond

During the "Beyond" arc, Aunt May enlists Doctor Octopus to help bring Peter Parker out of a coma that he was placed into during a fight with the
U-Foes The U-Foes is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are usually depicted as enemies of the Hulk. The group consists of four members: Vector, the group's leader, who can repel matter telekinetica ...
. They did so by obtaining the samples of X-Ray and Vapor. When Aunt May returned to Peter's hospital room, she found that the hospital received some technology from Doctor Octopus which came in handy in bringing Peter Parker out of a coma. Doctor Octopus later attacks the satellite location of Beyond Corporation's
shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
Infinite Solutions and finds that they were taking assets from the defunct Parker Industries, their use of Ben Reilly's incarnation of Spider-Man, and the copying of Doctor Octopus' Spider-Man technology. This causes Doctor Octopus to declare vengeance on the Beyond Corporation.


Devil's Reign

During the "
Devil's Reign "Devil's Reign" is an American comic book event written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Marco Checchetto, published from 2021 to 2022 by Marvel Comics. Premise In a ploy to increase his power, Mayor Wilson Fisk has outlawed superheroes in New York C ...
" storyline, Doctor Octopus becomes part of Mayor Wilson Fisk's Thunderbolts unit. He accompanied the NYPD and
Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...
to the Baxter Building to do a full investigation on the weapons of mass destruction that might be located there. Before Reed and Susan can retaliate, Doctor Octopus appears and places power dampener collars on them. He and Mayor Fisk persuaded the government that Reed worked for the work to look the other way and states that they now must come with them as a Thunderbolts unit shows up. Susan manages to get a Code X7 out to Human Torch, Ben Grimm, Franklin Richards, and Valeria Richards causing them to evacuate and get to
Alicia Masters Alicia Reiss Masters is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character to the superheroes the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer. Created by Stan Lee and Jack ...
and the kids with her. Doctor Octopus later contacts Mayor Fisk about the inventions that he found in Reed Richards' lab. In the sub-basement of City Hall, Mayor Fisk meets with Doctor Octopus as they reference the time when Doctor Doom used Purple Man to control the world as it shows Purple Man's body in a diamond-shaped container. Doctor Octopus' invention would help coerce the people of New York. Mayor Fisk states that he'll handle the rest. With the special Neuro Blockers to keep him safe from the Purple Man's influence, Doctor Octopus states that his part of the job is done. Doctor Octopus later makes use of Reed Richards' inter-dimensional gate where he brings over version of himself like Hulk from Earth-8816 who has two sets of arms growing from his back, a version of
Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...
from Earth-1666 with chain-tentacles coming out of his back, and a version of
Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...
from Earth-9712 with immensely sharp blades on the tentacles coming out of his back. Doctor Octopus then considers his plans "Superior". Doctor Octopus is contacted by Mayor Fisk about the Purple Children as Doctor Octopus states that he is occupied at Reed Richards' laboratory, but can work on modifying Purple Man's confinement when they have been found. After the call, Doctor Octopus tells Hulk of Earth-8816, Ghost Rider of Earth-1666, and Wolverine of Earth-9712 that they will see some action soon. Later that night, the superheroes arrive at City Hall where they are attacked by Doctor Octopus' Superior Four as Mayor Fisk watches from the window. Captain America discovers that Iron Man is actually Chameleon in disguise who Doctor Octopus was going to use to take part in the mayoral election on his behalf. Two weeks later, Doctor Octopus has released thousands of his Octobots in order to enforce Mayor Wilson Fisk's zero-tolerance policy, effectively wiping out all crime in the city. He and Wolverine of Earth-9712 visit Mayor Fisk as Doctor Octopus informs him that Butch Pharris has been arrested for his criminal activities. Doctor Octopus and his Superior Four make plans to obtain the intellect of Doctor Octopus' counterparts throughout the Multiverse using a synthetic blood-parasite from Earth-5069 like they did on Spider-Ock of Earth-2902. When it comes to Earth-7214, the Superior Four attack its Atlantis and are confronted by Supreme Octopus. Doctor Octopus is then teleported to the Savage Land on Earth-8969 where he is ensnared by Supreme Octopus who considers himself superior to Doctor Octopus where he mentioned that he liquefied Shuma-Gorath, made Dormammu grovel, and burned Knull to ashes. The rest of the Superior Four are brought to Earth-8969 where neither of them want to follow Supreme Octopus. Despite what the Superior do, they are unable to beat Supreme Octopus. Hulk of Earth-8816, Ghost Rider of Earth-1666, and Wolverine of Earth-9712 turn against Doctor Octopus and help Supreme Octopus to rip off Doctor Octopus' tentacles. Doctor Octopus is then locked up with a skeleton and carnivorous plants in Supreme Octopus' mobile base called the Supreme Sanctorum.


Powers and abilities

Otto Octavius is a genius in the field of atomic physics, and he holds a Ph. D. in nuclear science. A brilliant engineer and inventor, he is also a superb strategist and a charismatic leader. His genius in radiation is so exceptional that he was once called upon by
Mister Fantastic Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace a ...
of the
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
to offer his expertise when the
Invisible Woman The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four and was the first female superhero created by Marvel during ...
suffered from complications during her second pregnancy as a result of the cosmic radiation that had given the team their powers. Due to exposure to atomic radiation, Doctor Octopus has acquired the mental ability of psychokinetic control over the four electrically powered, telescoping,
prehensile Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ (anatomy), organ that has Adaptation (biology), adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely der ...
,
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
-steel artificial tentacle "arms" (a degree of psychokinetic control over them that he can also exercise over vast distances even when they are not connected to him) that are attached to a stainless-steel harness encompassing his lower torso. Each of these four arms is capable of lifting several tons, provided that at least one arm is used to support his body. The reaction time and agility of his mechanical appendages are enhanced far beyond the range attainable for normal human musculature. The arms allow Octavius to move rapidly over any terrain and to scale vertical surfaces and ceilings. He has developed his concentration and control to the point that he can engage a single opponent, like
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
, or multiple opponents with the arms while performing a completely separate, more delicate task, such as stirring coffee or constructing a machine. Due to his weight and age, his opponents are often lured into a false sense of security, only to find he is a formidable combatant. He has managed to force opponents as formidable as Spider-Man, Daredevil, and
Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
to take up a defensive position in a fight. Doctor Octopus has also employed an armored body suit enabling him to breathe underwater and designed to withstand extreme water pressure. Doctor Octopus has begun wearing a full-body armor suit due to an illness caused by the amount of punishment he has sustained over the years, made even worse by the fact that his ability to ''take'' damage is still at a human norm, even if he can deliver a superhuman level of punishment; he relies completely on his arms to prevent opponents with superhuman strength getting in close enough to damage his relatively unfit physical form even before his illness. To compensate, he has covered his entire body with his new suit, his normal arms are bound to his chest, and four additional tentacles have been added to his harness. He has also developed psychokinetic-telepathic control over an army of "Octobots" (small
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
-like drones).


Harnesses

Doctor Octopus has possessed a total of three different harnesses during his career: the original
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
harness, a more powerful
adamantium Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in various games in the Elder Scrolls franchise. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. In ...
harness, and a
carbonadium Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in various games in the Elder Scrolls franchise. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. In ...
harness with tentacles bearing an octopus-like motif. The titanium and adamantium harnesses were both destroyed in ''The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man'' #1-4. His current harness is made of a titanium-steel-niobium alloy mixture that is dense, but lightweight in composition. While wearing the harness, the arms are powerful enough to allow him to walk up sheer concrete walls and move about quickly. They are also used to grab items, both small and large, and as literal weapons in terms of being swung at objects and people like clubs. The pincers at the end of each tentacle can also be used to cut and tear into the flesh of his enemies. His sheer power using these appendages was great enough to beat Daredevil, a seasoned combatant with superhuman senses, almost to death. The adamantium harness was powerful enough to both restrain and pummel the Hulk into submission during a series written by Erik Larsen. The adamantium in his tentacles made besting
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
in combat possible, tearing the hero's armor apart with a defeat so harsh that Tony Stark began to doubt his abilities almost enough to allow his persistent problem with alcohol abuse to flare up. The harness is also capable of holding a small jetpack, allowing him to fly to places faster and able to evade Spider-Man more easily. Doctor Octopus is even capable of whirling his tentacles around to deflect small projectiles like bullets.


Powers as the Superior Spider-Man

With his mind having taken over Spider-Man's body, Octavius gains possession of all of Spider-Man's memories, powers, abilities, and equipment, although he loses access to Spider-Man's memories after apparently removing his foe from their shared mind. As a way to reaffirm his perceived superior mind, he tinkered with the original Spider-Man costume, adding some carbonadium plating over his neck and skull, talons on his hands and feet, split-toed footwear fashioned as
jika-tabi are a style of footwear with a divided toe, originating in Japan. They are similar to socks in both appearance and construction. Though they can be worn with traditional thonged footwear such as and , are mostly designed and made to be worn ...
shoes, a slightly different, more imposing spider-motif on his back and enhanced lenses in his costume, with HUD and tracking abilities. He also retains access to some of his former hideouts from when he was Doctor Octopus, coupling Horizon Tech-derived inventions with his own peculiar brand of technology.


Octobots

The Octobots are octopus-themed robots that are created by Doctor Octopus. There are two different kinds of Octobots: * The first model of the Octobot seen are little metal balls with eight legs, which are mentally controlled by Doctor Octopus via a remote control. These Octobots can also be used to attack, to perform different tasks, and attach themselves to anyone so that Doctor Octopus can mentally control them. * The second model of the Octobot seen is a giant metallic robot, which Doctor Octopus uses to attack huge constructions. The Octobots have at least two known variations: * The
Spider-Slayer The Spider-Slayers are a series of fictional robots appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Spencer Smythe, they were designed specifically to hunt down, capture, or kill Spider-Man. A new generation of Spider-Slay ...
s – These Spider-Slayers that appeared in ''
Spider-Island "Spider-Island" is a 2011 comic book storyline starting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and crossing over into other comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of which were limited series or one-shots specifically for this storyline. The main ...
'' are actually first generation Octobots that Spider-Man had laden with a special serum, which was used to cure the Spider-Virus that slowly turned everyone into Man-Spiders. * The Spider-Bots – The Spider-Bots are small red and blue spiders. While his mind was inside Spider-Man's body, he controlled them remotely and was able to enact constant surveillance over all of New York city, perform different tasks and control technology.


Powers as the Superior Octopus

In his Superior Octopus body, Octavius retains access to Peter Parker's powers, while also having a new set of his original tentacles designed to work with this body.


Reception

* In 2022, ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
'' ranked Superior Spider-Man 5th in their "10 Most Powerful Silk Villains In Marvel Comics" list.


Other versions


''Age of Ultron''

In the ''
Age of Ultron "Age of Ultron" (abbreviated AU) is a 2013 comic book fictional crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics that involved the conquest of the Earth by the sentient robot tyrant Ultron. The storyline consisted of an eponymous, 10-issue core ...
'' reality of Earth-61112 where the evil AI robot
Ultron Ultron () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and initially made his debut as an unnamed character in '' The Avengers'' #54 (July ...
returned to Earth and annihilated humanity and a majority of the world's superheroes, it was revealed that sometime prior to Ultron's conquest, the events of ''
Dying Wish "Dying Wish" is a 2012 comic book storyline in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', published by Marvel Comics. The story began with a prologue in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #698 and ended in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #700, the final issue of that series, ...
'' had still occurred, as Peter Parker is revealed to be Otto Octavius.


''Amalgam''

In the ''
Amalgam Comics Amalgam Comics was a collaborative publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones (e.g., DC Comics' Batman and Marvel Comics' Wolverine become the Amalgam ...
'' universe, Doctor Octopus is a benevolent scientist, a member of Project Cadmus, and a mentor figure to the young hero Spider-Boy.


''House of M''

In the ''
House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book Limited series (comics), limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of fictiona ...
'' reality created by the
Scarlet Witch Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964 ...
, Otto Octavius makes an appearance as a researcher for the government where he is seen studying stem cells.


''Marvel 1602''

In the ''
Marvel 1602 ''Marvel 1602'' is an eight-issue comic book limited series published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert, and digitally painted by Richard Isanove; Scott McKowen illustrated the distin ...
'' universe, a version of Dr. Octopus appears in the ''Spider-Man 1602'' miniseries. Baron Victor Octavius is an Italian
nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
living in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. His attempts to use the blood of octopuses to cure himself of the
bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...
have resulted in his becoming a deformed octopus-like monster, he is also associated with fellow Dr. Curtis Connors, transforming him into the Lizard. A potion derived from the blood of
Hal McCoy Harold Stanley "Hal" McCoy Jr. (born October 18, 1940 in Akron, Ohio) is an American sportswriter. McCoy was a beat writer for the '' Dayton Daily News'' ( Dayton, Ohio), covering the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. He still covers all Reds home ga ...
by the natural philosopher Henri le Pym keeps him human, but is growing steadily less effective. He believes that the blood of
Peter Parquagh " Spider-Man" is the name of multiple comic book superheroes from the Marvel Comics Multiverse. The original and most well known is Peter Parker created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originating from the Earth-616 universe. Within the mainstre ...
might be the basis of a more effective potion. He is later killed by a transformed le Pym's giant foot.


Marvel 2099

In the year
2099 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st century, 21st to 30th century, 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies se ...
which takes place in an unidentified reality, a version of Doctor Octopus is a member of this reality's Sinister Six. This version is an
Atlantean As an adjective, Atlantean (or Atlantian) means "of or pertaining to Atlas or Atlantis". Atlantean may also refer to: * Atlantean figures, a type of ancient artifacts * ''Atlantean'' (documentary series), a trilogy of TV films discussing the ori ...
who has octopus tentacles coming out of his back.


''Marvel Zombies''

On Earth-2149 (a world in which almost all heroes and villains are flesh-eating zombies) an undead Doctor Octopus first appears in the '' Marvel Zombies'' series alongside several other zombie supervillains attempting to kill and devour the invading
Galactus Galactus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, Galactus is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of t ...
; this incarnation of Doctor Octopus is apparently destroyed piecemeal by several cosmically powered hero zombies after he got in the way of an attack they were aiming at the invading
Galactus Galactus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, Galactus is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of t ...
. In the prequel series to ''Marvel Zombies'', ''
Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness ''Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness'' is a five-issue 2007 comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in association with Dynamite Entertainment, an intercompany crossover in which Ash Williams, hero of the popular ''Evil Dead'' fi ...
'' and ''Marvel Zombies: Dead Days'', the zombie Doctor Octopus makes only a few
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
s, as a member of the undead Sinister Six. Another alternate version appears in ''
Marvel Zombies Return ''Marvel Zombies Return'' is a weekly five-issue comic book limited series, published by Marvel Comics in late 2009. It is part of the '' Marvel Zombies'' series of comic books. Publication history ''Marvel Zombies Return'' is a weekly series of ...
'' as a member of the Sinister Six. He was ripped in half and infected by the reality-hopping Zombie Spider-Man. The zombie Doctor Octopus's body is then destroyed and devoured by a zombified Spider-Man and then spit out (because zombie flesh tastes terrible to other zombies) after he and the rest of the Sinister Six have devoured Peter's friends.


''MC2''

In the MC2 alternate continuity, Doctor Octopus attacked the ''
Daily Bugle The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, mos ...
'' shortly after the disappearance/retirement of Spider-Man, killing editor-in-chief Joseph "Robbie" Robertson. This motivates ''Bugle'' publisher J. Jonah Jameson to initiate "Project: Human Fly", an attempt to create a government-controlled superhero. Mercenaries (later revealed to be in the employ of Doctor Octopus) attempt to steal the Human Fly suit, but are thwarted when Jameson's grandson takes the suit (the controls of which bond to the first user) and becomes the superhero the Buzz. The Buzz and Spider-Girl eventually apprehend Doctor Octopus, who—now being struck with cancer—falls into a coma from which he is not expected to recover. Later, the mantle of Doctor Octopus is taken up by
Lady Octopus Lady Octopus (Carolyn Trainer), also known as Doctor Octopus II, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily as an enemy to the superheroes Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider. The character is the proté ...
.


''Marvel Noir''

In the ''Spider-Man Noir'' series as part of the '' Marvel Noir'' universe, his name first appears in the ''Daily Bugle'' newspaper as one of the biologists undertaking an oceanic voyage on a research ship named the ''Atlantis''. He appears in person in issue #1 of the sequel series, "Eyes Without a Mask". Here, he is a doctor working in a facility on
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...
. His legs are crippled and withered, and he travels in a wheelchair with six long metal claw-like tentacles sticking out. He is officially conducting experiments on primates to study their brains in connection with evolution and, in the end, it is shown he is secretly taking in kidnapped African Americans for his own, more secret experiments. He is later revealed to in fact be working with the Nazis and their American proxies, the "
Friends of New Germany Friends of New Germany (Die Freunde des Neuen Deutschland), sometimes called Friends of the New Germany, was an organization founded in the United States by German immigrants to support Nazism and the Third Reich. History Nazis outside of Germa ...
", with the plot of making all minorities into mindless slaves. However, his experiments are uncovered by Spider-Man, and although he is allowed to leave the country due to his past service to America, he is subsequently rejected by the Nazis, as they believe his crippled body reflects a crippled mind that could produce nothing of value for them.


''Spider-Gwen''

In the ''
Spider-Gwen ''Spider-Gwen'' (also titled ''Ghost-Spider'') is an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that began February 2015. The series revolves around Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, an alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy that debuted in ...
'' reality of Earth-65, Doctor Octopus is the head scientist of S.I.L.K. He engages the 616 version of his boss Cindy Moon with an experimental octopus that attaches to him.


''Spider-Man: Chapter One''

Otto Octavius appears in the '' Spider-Man: Chapter One'' re-imagining of Spider-Man's origin. This version of the character was transformed into Doctor Octopus in the same accident that caused a spider to become radioactive, leading to Peter Parker's transformation into Spider-Man.


''Spider-Man: Life Story''

''Spider-Man: Life Story'' features an alternate continuity where the characters naturally age after Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man in 1962 as in the original timeline. In the 1970s, Octavius gave up being Doctor Octopus after suffering a heart attack, making him afraid of his own mortality. He eventually married May Parker and was offered a job at Future Foundations by Reed Richards. However, May later divorced him due to his anger management issues, leading him to a life of crime once more. In 1995, Norman Osborn tells him Spider-Man's secret identity and reveals he has a clone named Ben Reilly in Chicago. An elderly Octavius kidnaps Peter and Ben and takes them to Oscorp (after threatening Harry for the equipment) so he could learn how to clone himself a new body. While studying them, he discovers that Peter was supposedly the clone while Ben was the original, leading Ben to lash out at him. He attempts to kill both Peter and Ben, but ends up accidentally killing Harry and runs away in shock. Peter later discovers that Norman rigged the machines Octavius was using to make it appear that he was the clone. In 2019, the dying Octavius switches bodies with the newer, younger Spider-Man, Miles Morales, in order to preserve his life and become a "superior" hero. He aids the older Peter Parker in activating the "Doomsday Pulse" in space to shut down Doctor Doom's technology across the planet. After they encounter a Venom-possessed Kraven the Hunter, Peter deduces that Octavius is in Miles' body from his interactions with Kraven and his technical knowledge. Octavius attempts to destroy Peter's mind, but Peter uses a memory of Aunt May to convince him to accept his life's limitations. Peter sends Octavius back to Earth with the space station's only escape pod and sacrifices himself to activate the Doomsday Pulse. After his return, Octavius willingly puts himself and Miles back in their original bodies.


''Spider-Man: India''

In '' Spider-Man: India'', Doctor Octopus is featured as a minion/meek doctor who is transformed by Nalin Oberoi into a mystical version of Doctor Octopus to find and kill Pavitr Prabhaker, the Indian version of Spider-Man. He is later killed by Oberoi, while trying to help Spider-Man rescue MJ and Aunt Maya from Oberoi.


''Spider-Man: Reign''

In '' Spider-Man: Reign'', as conceived by
Kaare Andrews Kaare Andrews is a comic book writer, artist and filmmaker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His work includes '' Spider-Man'', '' Iron Fist'', '' Renato Jones'', and '' Incredible Hulk''. Andrews has a diverse drawing style, which ranges from hyper ...
, in which many superheroes had grown old and retired, Octavius appeared to save Spider-Man from death at the hands of an older version of the
Sinister Six Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction "left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see dex ...
. While he originally appeared to merely be world-weary, relying on his 'four sons' (his tentacles) to keep him alive, he revealed via monologue that he had in fact been dead for months, and had left the tentacles a program that would force them into action to find Spider-Man. Furthermore, the tentacles were used to play the tape on which his monologue is recorded, and take him to the graveyard where his loved ones lay. The hope is to use Spider-Man to reignite the age of the super powered beings, as both Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man were born from nuclear accidents.


''Secret Wars''

During the ''
Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...
'' storyline, there had been different versions of Doctor Octopus in different Battleworld domains. * In the Battleworld Domain of the Regency as seen in '' Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows'', Doctor Octopus is a member of Regent's Sinister Six where they are tasked to hunt down Spider-Man. He catches Spider-Man at Tinkerer's shop when the Sinister Six was tipped off by Tinkerer. Doctor Octopus is killed by Spider-Man before the rest of the Sinister Six could arrive. * In the Battleworld domain of the Valley of Doom, Otto Octavius has metal arms that wield revolvers under his coat. He is depicted as a minion of Governor Roxxon alongside Bullseye, Elektra, and Grizzly where they are first seen intimidating Judge Franklin Nelson into leaving town so that he would not preside over Red Wolf's trial. The four villains fight Sheriff Steve Rogers and Red Wolf on Mayor Wilson Fisk's behalf which ended with Otto Octavius getting killed in battle against Sheriff Rogers. * In the Battleworld domain of Marville, Doctor Octopus appears as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. * In the Battleworld domain of Killville, Doctor Octopus had stolen as CPU unit from a defeated Nimrod Sentinel. Although MODOK saved Doctor Octopus from Bullseye, MODOK killed Doctor Octopus and claimed the CPU unit for himself. * In a world where the superhero Civil War never ended and was recreated into the Battleworld domain of the Warzone, Doctor Octopus was killed by the Kingpin, who grafted Doctor Octopus's tentacles onto himself. The tentacles' own collective AI rendered Fisk virtually brain-dead due to their 'affection' for Octavius.


''Spider-Verse''

* A version of Doctor Octopus is a member of the Six Men of Sinestry of the dimension Earth-803, set in Industrial Age New York. Their objective was to steal the mayor's plan, but although they succeeded in the theft, they were forced to retreat after a battle with Lady Spider. In a later confrontation with Lady Spider and
Spider-Man 2099 Spider-Man 2099 is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992 for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, and is a futuristic re-imagin ...
, Miguel manages to examine Octopus's equipment and notes that it is powered by a radioactive material with improper shielding, musing that he would be dead of cancer within a year if he kept using the tentacles. * In a world where Ben Parker was the Spider-Totem, Doctor Octopus attempted to blackmail the world with a stolen nuclear device. Even though the demands were met, something went wrong and most of Earth was reduced to a nuclear wasteland, with Ben Parker only surviving because he was hidden in Ezekiel's bunker after the deaths of his family at the hands of the Emerald Elf drove him to retire. * On Earth-94, a reality where
Ben Reilly Benjamin "Ben" Reilly (), also known as the Scarlet Spider, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Grown in a lab by the Miles Warren / Jackal, he is a clone of Peter Parker / Spider-Man tasked ...
was never killed and continued to be Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus was unable to transfer his mind into Spider-Man and died. * After various assorted Electros expand out to become a multiverse-conquering army, the lead Electro – a Max Dillon who used his powers to become a major world leader - gathers a variety of alternate Doctor Octopuses to become their 'think tank'. When
Gwen Stacy Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
and
Uncle Ben Benjamin Franklin Parker, usually referred to as Uncle Ben, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in association with the superhero Spider-Man. He is the husband of May Parker and the pa ...
attempted to free the Octaviuses from the Electros' control, the various villains attacked them, but they found an ally in the form of Octavia Otto, a teenage female Doctor Octopus who was a member of the Young Avengers in her universe, allowing them to devise a means of adapting the Octaviuses' mind-switching technology to disrupt the neural pattern of the leader of the Electro army, who had converted himself into a purely electricity-based life form. Octavia meets with the Superior Octopus when she joins the Spider-Army to warn him about the Inheritors' hi-jacking his cloning technology to escape their prison.


''Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man''

In the 1976 DC/
Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...
intercompany crossover In comic books, an intercompany crossover (also called cross-company or company crossover) is a comic or series of comics in which characters, that at the time of publication are the property or licensed property of one publisher, meet character ...
'' Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man'', Doctor Octopus forms an alliance with fellow criminal scientist
Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: Apr ...
, in an effort to conquer the world and kill their archenemies—Spider-Man and
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
. However, once he realizes that Luthor intends to destroy most of the planet Earth, Octopus betrays Luthor and attempts to stop him, but is defeated (Spider-Man subsequently defeats Luthor, and Superman prevents the East Coast of the United States from being destroyed by a Luthor-created tidal wave).


Ultimate Marvel

The
Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring re-imagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Those characters ...
version of Doctor Octopus is younger, more muscular, and wears sunglasses to disguise scars from the accident that fused him to his metal arms. His arms are made of nanobots, and thus can transform into different tools. He initially claims to have a psychic link with his metal arms, demonstrated by controlling them remotely. He is later revealed to have Ferrokinesis.''Ultimate Spider-Man'' #103. Marvel Comics. Octavius is introduced as a scientist at OsCorp and a corporate spy for Justin Hammer, Norman Osborn's business rival. He is caught in a lab accident involving the drug OZ that turned Norman into the
Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known incarnation Norman Osborn, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, is generally regarded as one of the a ...
. After the accident, his metal arms are grafted onto his body and he is able to communicate with them via telepathy. He seeks revenge against Hammer, but is defeated by
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
, although Hammer died of a heart attack caused by Octavius' attack. Afterwards, Octavius is brought into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody where he, along with Osborn, form the
Ultimate Six ''Ultimate Six'' is a seven-issue comic book limited series and crossover between Spider-Man and the Ultimates (2003), featuring the Ultimate Marvel version of the Sinister Six. The series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, penciled by Trevor Ha ...
, consisting of Electro (Marvel Comics)#Ultimate Marvel,
Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversary to ...
, and
Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...
. The five attack S.H.I.E.L.D. and capture an unmasked Spider-Man, who is blackmailed by Osborn into joining them. In a battle between the Six and the Ultimates on the White House lawn, Doc Ock is taken down by the
Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
. Octavius is separated from his tentacles and held in a different prison far away from them. Octavius later finds out that his ex-wife is giving the rights to use his likeness in the Spider-Man film. Outraged, he summons his tentacles from the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and goes on a rampage. He manages to capture Parker and brings him aboard an airplane, torturing and unmasking him. Peter escaped and defeats Octavius. Back in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody,
Nick Fury Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos ...
melts Octavius' mechanical arms in front of him and instructs the guards to watch the melting mechanism for at least an hour afterwards to make sure the arms would not try to escape. However, in the '' Ultimate Hobgoblin'' story arc, it was revealed that a spare set of arms existed within a bunker belonging to Osborn. In the "
Ultimate Clone Saga The "Clone Saga" is an extended comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics, revolving around the superhero Spider-Man and clones of him, as well as of other characters. The second and best-known story arc of this name ran from October 1994 to ...
", Octavius was revealed to be responsible for all the Spider-Man clones, including an older clone believing itself to be Richard Parker, and a
Gwen Stacy Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
clone that can transform into the Carnage creature. His experimentation and research was done for the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
in order to find a way to create super soldiers so that the U.S. Government wouldn't have to be reliant on Fury's monopoly on the Ultimates. He reveals that he is now outside Fury's jurisdiction, and takes pleasure in pointing out to Parker that his work perverts the hero's life. He creates a new set of arms out of metal scraps and battles both Spider-Man and
Spider-Woman Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and original version is Jessica Drew (later impersonated by Veranke), the second version is Julia Carpenter, and the third vers ...
, killing a clone before being knocked out. Octavius makes a brief appearance, confronting Osborn as the latter breaks out of the
Triskelion A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts o ...
; he attacks his former boss to prevent his escape, informing him that he betrayed him by giving the OZ formula to the FBI. Octavius beats Osborn senseless until his other former ally Electro intervenes and knocks him out. During the '' Ultimate Mystery'', Octavius appears as a member of
Roxxon The Roxxon Energy Corporation (otherwise known as the Roxxon Oil Company, Roxxon Oil Corporation, Roxxon Corporation or simply Roxxon) is the name of a fictional massive Petroleum industry, petroleum industrial conglomerate in the Marvel Universe ...
's Brain Trust. In the " Death of Spider-Man" storyline, Osborn breaks him and the rest of the Six out of the Triskelion with
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
as their latest member. After their escape, Osborn informs them that he believes that God wishes for them to kill Spider-Man. Octavius disagrees, seeking to leave the group to pursue a normal life as a scientist, happy with the knowledge that both he and Osborn created Spider-Man. Outraged, Osborn attacks and kills Octavius.


In other media


Television

* Doctor Octopus appeared in the 1960s ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' series, voiced by Vernon Chapman. * Doctor Octopus appeared in the 1980s ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' episode "Bubble, Bubble, Oil and Trouble", voiced by Stanley Jones. * Doctor Octopus appeared in ''
The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...
'' episode "Tomb of the Unknown Hulk", voiced by Michael Bell. * Doctor Octopus appeared in the ''
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends may refer to the following shows: * ''Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 cartoon series * ''Spidey and His Amazing Friends'' (2021 TV series), a 2021 Disney Junior cartoon {{Disam ...
'' episode "Spidey Meets the Girl of Tomorrow", voiced again by Michael Bell. * Doctor Octopus made several appearances in the 1994 ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' series, voiced by
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip'' and ''The F.B.I.'' He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the se ...
First appearing in the episode "Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous", this version was Peter Parker's science teacher at science camp when the youth was 10 years old. Despite having turned to villainy years later, Octavius still refers to himself as Parker's teacher following their reunion. Throughout the series, he battles Spider-Man while serving as a member of the Kingpin's Insidious Six. * Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus appears in ''
The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...
'', voiced by Peter MacNicol. Introduced in season one, this version is initially a timid, weak-willed scientist and inventor at
Oscorp Oscorp (sometimes stylized as OsCorp), also known as Oscorp Industries, is a fictional multibillion-dollar multinational corporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, predominantly in stories about Spider-Man. The compa ...
. Following a lab accident caused by the Green Goblin, Octavius is fused with his tentacle harness and becomes more aggressive and violent. After being defeated by Spider-Man, he forms the Sinister Six to seek revenge against him, only to be defeated by the symbiote-possessed Spider-Man. In season two, Octavius adopts the Master Planner alias as he re-forms the Sinister Six and attempts to take over the world by hacking into the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
's servers, only to be thwarted by Spider-Man. He later becomes a gang boss and competes against Tombstone and
Silvermane Silvermane (Silvio Manfredi) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A notorious crime boss and prominent figure in the Maggia, a fictional organized crime syndicate, he is usually depicted as an adversary ...
for control of New York's criminal underworld until all three are defeated by Spider-Man. * Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus appears in ''
Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...
'', voiced by
Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in ''R ...
. This version was originally an Oscorp scientist until a lab accident left him paralyzed and entirely dependent on four mechanical tentacles built by
Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is a fictional character, fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July ...
. Throughout season one, Octavius primarily operates from the shadows, employing supervillains to capture Spider-Man for his DNA on Norman's behalf; with one of his experiments with Spider-Man's DNA leading to the
Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
symbiote's creation. Octavius eventually betrays Norman by forcibly turning him into the Green Goblin and escapes after his underwater lab is destroyed. In season two, Octavius forms the Sinister Six in an attempt to eliminate Spider-Man, only to be defeated. After making minor appearances in season three, Octavius returns in season four having allied himself with HYDRA and
Arnim Zola Arnim Zola is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by Marvel Comics. He is a master of biochemistry and a recurring enemy of Captain America and the Avengers. The character first appeared in '' Captain America and the Falcon'' #208 ...
to form a new iteration of the Sinister Six and create the synthezoid
Scarlet Spider The Scarlet Spider is an alias used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, both of whom are genetic replicates of the superhero Spider-Man. Both the ...
to serve as a spy within Spider-Man's team. While leading an attack on the
Triskelion A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts o ...
, Octavius discovers Spider-Man's secret identity, but is betrayed by Scarlet Spider, who foils his plan. Octavius later reclaims his nanotech and gives himself a younger body before reforming the Sinister Six once more and taking Spider-Man's friends and allies hostage in the two-part series finale "Graduation Day". However, Spider-Man defeats the Sinister Six once more and persuades Octavius to surrender. ** Two alternate reality versions of Octavius, a medieval variant called the Alchemist and a Wild West outlaw called Doc Ock Holliday, appear in the episodes "The Spider-Verse" Pt. 3 and "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 2, respectively, both also voiced by Kenny. * Doctor Octopus appears in the ''
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. ''Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.'' is an American animated television series based on the superhero character by Marvel Comics. The series premiered on August 11, 2013, on Disney XD as part of the ''Marvel Universe'' block, and ended on June 2 ...
'' episode "The Venom Inside", voiced again by Tom Kenny. * Doctor Octopus appears in '' Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload'', voiced once more by Tom Kenny. * Doctor Octopus appears in '' Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers'', voiced by
Dai Matsumoto , also credited Hiroshi Matsumoto, is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. His major roles include Dokugakuji in '' Saiyuki'', Felix Aaron Thenardier in '' Lord Marksman and Vanadis'', and Soichiro Sakurada the patriarch of th ...
. * Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus appears in ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'', voiced by
Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. Life and career Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer ...
. This version is an arrogant but brilliant 19-year-old prodigy. Growing up, he was picked on by a jock and abused by his father Torbert (voiced by Charlie Adler). Introduced in season one, Octavius works as a professor at Horizon High until his tentacle harness becomes fused to his spine following a lab accident caused by the
Crimson Dynamo Crimson Dynamo (Russian: Багровое Динамо, '; also Красное Динамо (Krasnoe Dinamo)) is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics who have all been powered ar ...
. Following this, he tries to use his newfound abilities as a superhero under Spider-Man's guidance until his ego eventually causes him to become a supervillain and form the Sinister Six, though they are defeated by Spider-Man and Harry Osborn /
Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...
. In season two, Octavius is released from prison, claiming that he wants to redeem himself, and returns to being a professor at Horizon High. However, he secretly places a bounty on Spider-Man. After being defeated, Octavius is left in a
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
and his consciousness temporarily ends up in the
Living Brain The Living Brain is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the original Living Brain character first appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' # ...
before relocating into Spider-Man's body. During this time, Octavius is inspired by the hero's memories to become
the Superior Spider-Man ''The Superior Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics that ran between January 2013 and September 2014. It was written by Dan Slott, with artwork by Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos, and Giuseppe Camuncoli. The seri ...
and befriends Midtown High chemistry teacher Anna Maria Marconi. Eventually, he is persuaded to allow Spider-Man to reclaim control of his body while he returns to his own comatose body once more. After he recovers, Octavius returns to his Doctor Octopus persona and sacrifices himself to stop the Goblin King, for which he is hailed as a hero. * Doctor Octopus appears in ''
Marvel Super Hero Adventures ''Marvel Super Hero Adventures'' is an animated series based on characters created by Marvel Comics. Aimed at a preschool audience, the shorts first air on Disney Channel's Disney Junior block, followed by the Disney Junior channel and later the M ...
'', voiced by Luc Roderique. * A female version of Doctor Octopus appears in ''
Spidey and His Amazing Friends ''Spidey and His Amazing Friends'' (also known as ''Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends'') is a computer-animated superhero children's television series produced by Atomic Cartoons (who also produced ''Marvel Super Hero Adventures'') that pr ...
'', voiced by Kelly Ohanian. * Doctor Octopus will appear in the
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...
/
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
(MCU) series '' Spider-Man: Freshman Year'' (2024).


Film

* In an early script for
Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
's aborted Spider-Man film from, which was written by Ted Newsom and John Brancato, Otto Octavius was rewritten to become a teacher and mentor to a college-aged Peter Parker. The cyclotron accident which "creates" Spider-Man also deforms the scientist into Doctor Octopus and results in his mad pursuit of proof of the Fifth Force. "Doc Ock" reconstructs his cyclotron and causes electromagnetic abnormalities, anti-gravity effects, and bi-location, which threatens to engulf New York City and the world. Part of this plot were used for ''Spider-Man 2''.
Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
and Arnold Schwarzenegger were considered for the role. * Director Sam Raimi has stated that Doctor Octopus was intended to appear in ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' and team up with the
Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known incarnation Norman Osborn, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, is generally regarded as one of the a ...
, but was not included because Raimi thought it "wouldn't do the movie justice to have a third origin in there". *
Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...
portrays Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus in the
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
film ''
Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...
'' (2004). This version is depicted as a sympathetic, but misguided individual, and the husband and lab partner of Rosie Octavius (portrayed by
Donna Murphy Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1959) is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in '' Passion'' (1994–1995 ...
). Initially a well-meaning scientist working with
Oscorp Oscorp (sometimes stylized as OsCorp), also known as Oscorp Industries, is a fictional multibillion-dollar multinational corporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, predominantly in stories about Spider-Man. The compa ...
to develop a form of self-sustainable energy that would benefit mankind, Octavius turns to villainy after his experiment goes wrong, resulting in Rosie's death and Octavius losing control of his tentacle harness'
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
, which begins to influence his mind and actions and brings him into conflict with
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
. With the web-slinger's help, Octavius eventually sees the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to sink a fusion reactor he built into the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
, where he drowns. * Molina reprised his role in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
(MCU) film '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021). In April 2021, Molina said it was "wonderful" to play the character again. Additionally, he was digitally de-aged in the film to resemble how he appeared in 2004, despite his concerns about his fighting style not looking realistic due to his age in a similar way to Robert De Niro's character in ''
The Irishman ''The Irishman'' (subtitled onscreen as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book ''I Heard You Paint Hou ...
'' (2019). Prior to his death, Octavius is transported to an alternate universe due to a magic spell gone wrong and receives a cure from an alternate universe version of
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
. * A female incarnation of Doctor Octopus named Dr. Olivia "Liv" Octavius appears in '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', voiced by
Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
. She is the head scientist of
Alchemax Alchemax is a fictional megacorporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually depicted as part of the 2099 universe. Publication history The Earth-928 version of Alchemax first appeared in '' Spider-Man 2099'' #1 ...
and the Kingpin's right-hand woman who sports a large
beehive hairstyle The beehive is a hairstyle in which long hair is piled up in a conical shape on the top of the head and slightly backwards pointing, giving some resemblance to the shape of a traditional beehive. It is also known as the B-52 due to a resemblance ...
, glasses with octagonal lenses, and pneumatic tentacles tipped with claws. Under the Kingpin's orders, she builds a
super-collider A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...
to access parallel universes. In spite of the initial tests nearly destroying New York City and bringing several alternate reality versions of Spider-Man to their universe, the Kingpin orders Liv to continue working on the collider. She later encounters
Miles Morales Miles Gonzalo MoralesAhmed, Saladin (w), Garrón, Javier (a). ''Miles Morales: Spider-Man'' #1 (2018) Marvel Comics (New York). () is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, and is one o ...
and an alternate reality Peter Parker while they are infiltrating Alchemax, but fails to catch them. After confronting the assembled Spider-People at
May Parker Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
's house alongside the Kingpin and his other henchmen and failing to stop them a second time, Liv tries to stop the heroes at the collider, only to be hit by a truck when the machine goes haywire and melds her universe with aspects of others. Additionally, a Doctor Octopus from
Gwen Stacy Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
's universe makes a non-speaking
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
while fighting her in a flashback before she was transported to Miles' Earth. * An alternate Otto Octavius as the Superior Spider-Man will be featured in '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' (2023). He will be portrayed as a member of the Spider-Forces led by Miguel O' Hara / Spider-Man 2099.


Video games

Doctor Octopus has appeared as a
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
and occasional playable character in multiple Spider-Man and non-Spider-Man-related video games. The Superior Spider-Man has also been featured as a playable character in several games.


''Spider-Man'' games

* Doctor Octopus appeared in ''
Questprobe featuring Spider-Man ''Questprobe: Featuring Spider-Man'' is the second video game in the '' Questprobe'' series. Gameplay The player takes the role of Spider-Man, with powers including super strength and the ability to climb walls. Unlike previous releases, this gam ...
''. * Doctor Octopus appeared as a
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
in ''
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' for the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
. * Doctor Octopus appeared in '' Spider-Man: The Video Game''. * Doctor Octopus appeared as the final boss in '' Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six''. * Doctor Octopus appeared as the first boss in ''
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin ''Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin'' is a video game produced by Sega of America and developed by Technopop (developer), Technopop initially on the Sega Mega Drive, Mega Drive/Genesis. It was ported internally by Sega of America for the Master System a ...
''. * Doctor Octopus appeared as the first boss in the 1995 ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' game. * Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss in '' Spider-Man: Lethal Foes''. * Doctor Octopus appeared as a boss in the 2000 ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' video game, voiced again by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. While pretending to have reformed, he works with Carnage to turn everyone in New York into symbiotes, but they are both defeated by Spider-Man. Following this, the Carnage symbiote bonds with Doctor Octopus, turning him into Monster Ock (voiced by Marcus Shirock). After Monster Ock is defeated, Doctor Octopus is returned to normal and promptly arrested. * Doctor Octopus appeared as the final boss in '' Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six''. * Doctor Octopus makes a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
at the end of '' Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro''. * Doctor Octopus appears as the final boss in the ''
Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...
'' film tie-in game, with Alfred Molina reprising his role from the aforementioned film. * Doctor Octopus appears as a boss playable and character in '' Spider-Man: Friend or Foe'', voiced by Joe Alaskey. He and several supervillains attack Spider-Man until they are all attacked by P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s under
Mysterio Mysterio (Quentin Beck) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #13 (June 1964). He is primarily depicted a ...
's command. Doc Ock is captured along with the other villains, placed under mind control, and sent to
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
to retrieve a meteor shard located there. After Spider-Man defeats Doctor Octopus and destroys the mind-control device, the latter joins forces with the former to exact revenge on Mysterio. * Doctor Octopus appears in '' Spider-Man: Edge of Time'', voiced by Dave B. Mitchell. When
Alchemax Alchemax is a fictional megacorporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually depicted as part of the 2099 universe. Publication history The Earth-928 version of Alchemax first appeared in '' Spider-Man 2099'' #1 ...
scientist Walker Sloan travels back from the year
2099 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st century, 21st to 30th century, 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies se ...
to establish his company in the 1970s, Otto Octavius became a scientist employed by the company and never turned to crime, though he still uses his tentacles as research tools. His in-game bio reveals that Sloan recruited him the day before the accident that would have fused his tentacles to him. They attempt to use a mind-controlled
Anti-Venom Anti-Venom is a fictional antihero appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in '' The Amazing Spider-Man'' #569 (August 2008), and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. The creature belongs to a race of amorp ...
to kill Spider-Man, but when
Spider-Man 2099 Spider-Man 2099 is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992 for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, and is a futuristic re-imagin ...
intervenes, Doctor Octopus, Sloan, and Anti-Venom are all accidentally thrown into Sloan's time portal and end up fused into the monstrous Atrocity (voiced by
Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy in various DC ...
) equipped with Doctor Octopus' tentacles and Anti-Venom's ability to negate the present day Spider-Man's powers. Spider-Man eventually defeats Atrocity, throwing it back into the time portal, before he and Spider-Man 2099 undo Sloan's changes, restoring history. * Multiple alternate reality versions of Doctor Octopus appear as bosses in ''
Spider-Man Unlimited ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' is an American animated series by Saban Entertainment which features the Marvel comic book superhero Spider-Man, intended as a loose sequel series to the previous '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', which ran from 19 ...
'', voiced by
Kyle Hebert Kyle Henry Hebert ( ) is an American voice actor and DJ who works for anime and video game series, such as the teenage/adult Gohan and the narrator in the Funimation dub of the ''Dragon Ball series'', Sōsuke Aizen in ''Bleach'', Ryu in the ...
. They are members of a multiversal Sinister Six. Additionally, his Superior Spider-Man, Superior Venom, and Superior Octopus forms appear as playable characters.


''Marvel's Spider-Man'' series

Doctor Octopus appears in
Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is m ...
' '' Marvel's Spider-Man'' series, voiced by
William Salyers William Lewis Salyers (born August 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his vocal performances, such as Reverend Putty on ''Moral Orel'', List of Regular Show characters#Rigby, Rigby on ''Regular Show'' and Doctor Octop ...
. Once a close friend of
Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is a fictional character, fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July ...
and co-founder of Oscorp, this version left the company due to its unethical genetic experiments. Founding his own company, Octavius Industries, he worked to perfect prosthetic limb technology, motivated by a neurological disorder he was developing. Octavius later employed
Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August ...
as his lab assistant and eventually became aware of his activities as Spider-Man, but chose to hide this from him. * In '' Marvel's Spider-Man'' (2018), in which he serves as the final boss, Octavius gains support from A.I.M. after Norman exploits his position as mayor to remove Octavius' grant funding in an attempt to persuade him to return to Oscorp. During this time, Octavius also befriends Martin Li, a former victim of Oscorp's experimentation who has been leading attacks against the city to destroy Norman. Working with Parker on a set of mechanical thought-controlled tentacles, Octavius loses control of his emotions due to a defect with the neural implant used to connect them directly to his nervous system and causes a mass prison break from
Ryker's Island The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...
and the
Raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...
. Forming the
Sinister Six Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction "left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see dex ...
with several of Spider-Man's foes, including Li, Octavius organizes a series of attacks on Oscorp and releases the Devil's Breath virus on New York in the hopes of exposing Norman's crimes. Octavius is eventually defeated by Parker and pleads for help, claiming that the tentacles' artificial intelligence was in control of his actions. However, Parker leaves him to face justice for his crimes, leading to Octavius' imprisonment at the Raft and Octavius Industries being shut down. Despite this, Octavius' plan partially succeeded, as Norman resigned from the Mayor's office soon after. * In '' Spider-Man: Miles Morales'' (2020), Octavius makes a cameo appearance within a flashback sequence that takes place prior to the first game's storyline, wherein he and Parker accidentally bump into
Miles Morales Miles Gonzalo MoralesAhmed, Saladin (w), Garrón, Javier (a). ''Miles Morales: Spider-Man'' #1 (2018) Marvel Comics (New York). () is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, and is one o ...
and Phin Mason while visiting the Oscorp Science Center.


Other games

* Doctor Octopus appears in ''
LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the seri ...
'' as part of the "Marvel Costume Kit 1"
downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
. * Doctor Octopus appears in ''
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online ''Marvel Super Hero Squad Online'' was a massively multiplayer online game for younger audiences based on the ''Marvel Super Hero Squad'', developed by American video game companies The Amazing Society and Gazillion Entertainment. The open beta ...
'', voiced initially by Charlie Adler, before Tom Kenny replaced him during the game's later terms. * Doctor Octopus appears as a card in ''
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom in collaboration with Eighting. It is an updated version of '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds''. The game features characters from both Capcom's video game franchises and comic book se ...
''s "Heroes and Heralds Mode". Producer Ryota Niitsuma confirmed that Doctor Octopus was planned to be a playable character at one point during production, with character art and a theme song being developed for him before the decision was made to cut him from the roster. * Doctor Octopus appears as a boss in '' Marvel: Avengers Alliance''. Additionally, an alternate reality version of Octavius who became the Superior Spider-Man appears as a playable character. * Doctor Octopus appears as a boss in '' Marvel Heroes'', voiced again by Tom Kenny . The Superior Spider-Man also appears as a playable character. * Two versions of Doctor Octopus appear as playable characters in ''
Marvel Puzzle Quest ''Marvel Puzzle Quest'' is a video game released by D3 Publisher and Marvel Entertainment on October 3, 2013, and developed by Demiurge Studios. The fourth installment in the '' Puzzle Quest'' series, it is a free-to-play, match-three ''Bejeweled ...
''. * Doctor Octopus appears as a playable character and boss in ''
Lego Marvel Super Heroes ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes'' is a 2013 Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft W ...
'', voiced by
Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
. Additionally, his ''
Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...
'' cartoon iteration and Superior Spider-Man form are also playable. * Doctor Octopus make a cameo appearance in ''
Disney Infinity 2.0 ''Disney Infinity 2.0'' (also known as ''Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes'') is an action-adventure game, action-adventure Nonlinear gameplay#Sandbox mode, sandbox toys-to-life video game developed by Avalanche Software and Heavy Iron Studios ...
'', voiced by Tom Kenny. * Doctor Octopus appears in '' Marvel: Contest of Champions''. * Doctor Octopus appears as a playable character and boss in '' Marvel: Future Fight''. Additionally, the Superior Spider-Man appears as an alternate costume. * Doctor Octopus appears as a boss in '' Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2''. * Doctor Octopus appears as a boss and playable character in ''
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on 14 November ...
''. Additionally, the Superior Spider-Man is also playable. * Doctor Octopus appears as a boss in '' Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order'', voiced again by William Salyers. This version serves as second-in-command of the Sinister Six, led by the Green Goblin.


Miscellaneous

* Doctor Octopus appears in ''
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (also known as The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man: The Ride in Universal Studios Japan) is a motion-based 3D dark ride at the Islands of Adventure, Orlando and Universal Studios Japan, Osaka theme parks, ...
'' ride at
Islands of Adventure Universal's Islands of Adventure (also known as Islands of Adventure or IOA), originally called Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part of an ...
at the
Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operated by Universal Pa ...
, voiced by
Rodger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as ...
. This version is the leader of the
Sinister Syndicate The Sinister Syndicate is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters serve as a collection of lesser-known Spider-Man villains. The group was the focus of the 1991 ''Deadly Foes of Spider ...
. * Doctor Octopus appears in the '' Marvel Universe: LIVE!'' stage show. This version is a member of the Sinister Six.


Toys and collectibles

* Doctor Octopus has been recreated in
action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mark ...
form multiple times, first as part of
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
's
Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...
line, then later many times by
Toy Biz Toy Biz (also stylized as ToyBiz), was a toy company which later became a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment and was renamed to Marvel Toys. It was best known for producing action figures and toys and holding the Marvel Comics license from 1990 t ...
in their Spider-Man and
Marvel Legends Marvel Legends is an action figure line based on the characters of Marvel Comics, initially produced by Toy Biz, then by Hasbro. This line is in the scale, with spin-off lines in the , , and scale. The line initially began as a spin-off of ...
series, and finally by
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
as part of their Spider-Man: Origin series. The movie figure will also be featured in Hasbro's Marvel Legends Spider-Man 3 wave. The action feature from this figure was removed. Hasbro released a Spectacular Spider-Man action figure later. * A Doctor Octopus figure was released in 2004 as part of the Marvel Manga Twist'ems line with wind up tentacles. * Doctor Octopus has also been recreated in several statues and mini-busts, by the likes of Diamond Select,
Art Asylum Minimates are a block-styled miniature action figure originally created by Art Asylum in 2002 and now released by Diamond Select Toys. The basic Minimate figure design has a tall body that resembles an extremely simplified human form with 14 point ...
and Bowen Designs. * Doctor Octopus is the third figurine in the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection.


Collected editions


As Doctor Octopus


As Superior Spider-Man


As Superior Octopus


References


External links

* * *
Octobot
at Marvel Wiki


Doctor Octopus
at Comic Vine
Otto Octavius
at Spider-Man Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Octopus Action film villains Villains in animated television series Characters created by Stan Lee Characters created by Steve Ditko Comics characters introduced in 1963 Cyborg supervillains Fictional business executives Fictional characters from New York (state) Fictional flexible weapons practitioners Fictional engineers Fictional inventors Fictional mad scientists Fictional physicists Fictional technopaths Hydra (comics) agents Incarnations of Spider-Man Marvel Comics characters who have mental powers Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics cyborgs Marvel Comics film characters Marvel Comics male supervillains Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics scientists Marvel Comics telepaths Spider-Man characters Video game bosses