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Nick Barlow, Clusterfuck/Keep It Together, 2022

Strawberry Cake and Coffee - Teija Lehto , 2025.

Finnish, b. 1965 -

But here? This reveal? This is a Big Reveal for us, Peter B Parker, and Miles, all on different levels. We and Peter both know Doc Ock is a portly dude, not a woman. We know the name Octavius… Otto Octavius. But when she says her name is Olivia Octavius we’re clued in to the fact that Doctor Octopus is a woman in this universe. And she has Peter captive.

Miles, if he was paying attention in science class earlier in the movie, would have known her name was Olivia Octavius, but that doesn’t mean anything to him, why would it? Liv has apparently been very good about keeping her supervillainy a secret. She’s in educational videos shown in high-schools. So to Miles, the reveal here is this scientist lady, who he knew enough about to know was the head scientist at Alchemax, is a supervillain. He gets the reveal a second or two after Peter.

And the movie? It was dropping hints the entire time, confident in our expectations blinding is to the truth. Olivia’s name was partially visible when Miles got to science class. Her glasses are octagonal. The lights in her lab are octagonal. We know she’s working with the Kingpin. Why wouldn’t she be a supervillain? Because she’s hot? Hell, Peter even says he needs to reexamine his internal biases. Maybe he was telling us that we should too.

"Root system of black raspberry." Fruit Biology. 1966.

Crucifixion With Mary Magdalene Kneeling And Weeping by Francesco Hayez, 1827

Archangel Michael by Borovikovsky, Vladimir Lukich, 1814-1815

The Divine Eros Defeats the Earthly Eros by Giovanni Baglione, 1602, detail