Yesterday, Sony debuted the trailer for Morbius, attempting to prove that Venom was more than a one-time fluke, and that “Spider-Man villains” can be a lucrative sub-franchise all its own. Morbius, who most Spider-Man fans I talked to best remember him from the old animated series and maybe a video game or two, is a living vampire who is actually not a part of the original Sinister Six cabal of villains, but may prove to be a pinch hitter (the originals were Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman, and Vulture), and the same may be true for Venom, despite earlier denials.
Is morbius in the MCU
Obviously it seems like a connection to Sony’s Venom film would make sense, and yet that’s not what the Jared Leto-starring trailer showed. After a trailer that played like an alternate earth version of a Batman origin story, we got a glimpse of Michael Keaton at the very end. Yes, the trailer got its own after-credits scene.The idea that Keaton is reprising his role as an imprisoned Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, and if The Vulture was in Spider-Man Homecoming, and that Spider-Man was in the MCU, then by the transitive property, Morbius has to technically be in the MCU.
Years ago, before Spider-Man joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe but after the MCU was in full swing, Sony announced it had plans for a sort of Spider-Man Cinematic Universe that would give the villainous Sinister Six a teamup film as well as movies focused on each of the individual members. And at least part of that plan is coming to fruition, with “Venom” and now “Morbius.” But Spider-Man is now in the MCU, and “Venom” was not. A lot of folks seem to now think that the first trailer for the vampire flick “Morbius,” released this morning, indicates that the universes are about to collide.
There are two things in the trailer that have fans speculating wildly about what’s going on here. The first is some street art featuring Spider-Man with the word “murderer” tagged over it.
This would seemingly refer to the end of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” where everyone thought Peter Parker (Tom Holland) had murdered Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in cold blood. This is a loose enough reference that it could just be indicative of Sony holding open the backdoor to integrate these films into the MCU later on, or it could mean something more concrete.
The trailer also showed the potential timeline for the Morbius film, as there’s a Spider-Man poster on the wall with “Murderer” scrawled across it, meaning it takes place after the events of Far From Home where Peter is outed and accused of all Mysterio’s crimes. It does not help matters that the poster appears to be an image taken from the video game adaption of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies years ago.
But fundamentally what Morbius “being in the MCU” actually means is unclear. While we know that Sony and Disney have worked out a deal to keep Tom Holland’s Peter/Spider for at least one more major Spider-Man film in the MCU, what these villain movies have to do with anything is a little more tricky.
The second thing is the appearance of Michael Keaton at the end of the trailer — Keaton, as you recall, was the villain Vulture in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” This, like the Spider-Man art, could simply be a deceptive tease to trick fans, since we don’t actually know who Keaton is supposed to be playing in the movie. But the big clue here is not just Keaton himself, but also what he’s wearing. In the “Morbius” trailer he would appear to be sporting the same prison garb that he was wearing at the end of “Homecoming.”
It’s hard to know what to make of this, especially with Sony still billing “Morbius” as being produced “in association with Marvel,” which is a phrase that has been used recently for films based on Marvel comics that are not a part of the MCU, like “Venom,” “Dark Phoenix” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” And certainly there has been no announcement from anyone that Disney is going to bring these films into the fold.
So if “Morbius” is going to be a part of the MCU, everyone is still playing coy about it. It’s entirely possible all of this is just a marketing ploy. It’s also entirely possible that this thing is really happening. “Morbius” is out July 31, and I’d be surprised if there’s any confirmation about this speculation before then. On the other hand, we’re getting a new “Black Widow” trailer tonight, and these two trailers hitting on the same day might not be a coincidence.
There are presumably limitations here to crossover potential – don’t expect Thor to drop in – but this remains a remarkable development. With presumably little control over Sony’s Marvel movies (and Sony hasn’t produced a truly decent comic book film by itself since 2004’s Spider-Man 2), Disney is allowing its rival studio to suggest to fans that these films are all part of the same tapestry of superhero flicks. In Hollywood terms, this is like Quentin Tarantino allowing Uwe Boll to use characters from Pulp Fiction in his latest venture. This appears to be the price of keeping Spider-Man in the MCU.
Whether Sony’s corner of Marvel turns out to be worth its salt – 2018’s Venom was pretty “meh” – or even makes sense as a sort of darker, gothicly furnished annex to the main Disney mansion, remains to be seen. Sony certainly seems to have got an incredible deal. But given that it seemed committed to withdrawing Spider-Man from the MCU altogether, just as we were all starting to enjoy Holland’s version of the character, we should perhaps be thankful for small mercies.
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