In 2020, Molina appeared in David Oyelowo's drama The Water Man, and Emerald Fennell's black comedy thriller Promising Young Woman. On 8 December 2020, it was announced that he would be returning as Doctor Octopus for Spider-Man: No Way Home in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, set to premiere on 17 December 2021. Molina later confirmed that he would actually be reprising his role as the Spider-Man 2 incarnation of Doctor Octopus in No Way Home, retconning his character's apparent death at the end of the former film. He was digitally de-aged to his 2004 self.
