30 Greatest Marvel Movie Villains
4. Doctor Octopus - Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2)
By far Spider-Man's most brilliantly-realised cinematic foe, Doc Ock may cling eagerly to the "scientist who gets turned bad by his own technology" shtick that feels so played out by this point, but he's still an intense and highly charismatic presence.
For starters, Ock's origin story is full of tragedy, as his fusion power experiment kills his wife and bonds the robotic tentacles to him, which demonstrate increasing influence over his actions.
His battles against Spider-Man are terrific, Molina gives a superbly unhinged yet still-sympathetic turn, and like so many great villains, it all ends in disaster when he ends up sacrificing himself after realising the error of his ways, drowning himself in the Hudson River in order to destroy the fusion reactor.
The motives make sense, the tentacles are awesome, and the performance is great: Doc Ock is a winner all-around.