In 2000, Molina appeared in Lasse Hallström's "Chocolat" which received critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination. He gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Diego Rivera alongside Salma Hayek in the biopic "Frida" (2002), a role for which he gained BAFTA and SAG award nominations. He played himself alongside Steve Coogan in Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003) and gained further commercial recognition when he portrayed the villain Doctor Octopus in "Spider-Man 2" (2004), which became one of the highest-grossing films of that year. For the latter, Molina was nominated for a Satellite award as Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in the video game adaptation. In 2006, Molina portrayed Touchstone in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" and appeared in Ron Howard's adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code". Molina provided the voice of the villain Ares in the 2009 animated film "Wonder Woman".