This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.In the wake of the massive success ofSpider-Man: No Way Home, there’s been an influx of renewed interest in theSpider-Manmovies, with many fans even expressing their desire for a revival of the previous film series starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. However, there’s one Spidey-related film that’s still inviting more confusion than excitement — the upcomingMorbiusmotion picture.
Morbius, starring Jared Leto (also known as the Joker inSuicide SquadandZack Snyder’s Justice League) as the title character, is slated as the next release in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the same shared universe as theVenomfilms starring Tom Hardy. The film centers around Dr. Michael Morbius, aka Morbius the Living Vampire, who wasoriginally a Spider-Man antagonistbefore spinning off into his own stories. But despite their shared comic history, it’s currently unclear how the cinematic Morbius relates to Spider-Man.
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The MCU Connection
DespiteMorbiusnot being a Marvel Studios production, much of the film’s marketing plays up its Marvel origins — the most recent trailer proudly proclaims that this movie is by “the studio that brought youSpider-Man: Far From HomeandVenom”, while one poster declares “A new Marvel legend arrives”. Both trailers so far have also prominently displayed the film’s Spider-Man connections: in one shot, Morbius walks past a mural of Spider-Man with the word “MURDERER” spray-painted on it, in a seeming reference to Peter being framed for Mysterio’s death at the end ofFar From Home. The second trailer even doubles down on the references, featuringshots of an Oscorp buildingand a Daily Bugle newspaper. And of course, there’s Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture, who created quite a bit of buzz when he appeared at the end of the original teaser trailer.
Obviously, the marketing forMorbiuswants people to think that it takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — unlike theVenommovies, Spider-Man is clearly shown to exist within this world. And with Michael Keaton reprising his role as Vulture, the natural assumption is that this film takes place within the mainline MCU, even if Marvel Studios isn’t involved in the production. However, after the release ofSpider-Man: No Way Home, these seemingly clear MCU connections have suddenly gotten much more complicated.
An Unfamiliar Universe
While the Oscorp andDaily Bugle easter eggsfrom the second trailer were clearly intended as hints towards ties to the mainlineSpider-Manfilms, they only end up creating more confusion after some minor revelations inNo Way Home. In the scene where Norman Osborn talks to Peter and Aunt May at the F.E.A.S.T. Center, he mentions that he looked for Oscorp in the MCU, but found no trace of its existence — or his own, for that matter. As such, this means thatMorbiuscannot possibly take place within the main MCU timeline.
Likewise, the Daily Bugle newspaper seen in the trailer has some references that don’t mesh with the events ofNo Way Home. The Spider-Man characters Rhino andBlack Cat are mentionedby name, but said characters are also briefly featured among the several multiversal visitors shown in silhouette duringNo Way Home’s climax. While it’s possible that local MCU variants of Black Cat and Rhino could already be active, all of the other extradimensional characters featured in the film seemingly have no MCU counterparts.
Even the Spider-Man mural featured in the trailers doesn’t necessarily mean thatMorbiustakes place in the mainline MCU: after all,No Way Homeprominently features the previous movie Spideys, who both exist in the wider Marvel multiverse. In fact, on closer examination, the mural doesn’t depict Tom Holland’s Spider-Man at all — rather, the suit is that of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, using art takenfrom the PS4Marvel’s Spider-Mangamefrom Insomniac Games. While the “MURDERER” graffiti still seems to imply a connection toFar From Home, it’s unclear why art of the Raimi-verse Spidey would be used in the first place. After all,Morbiuswas originally slated to premiere in July 2020, whileNo Way Homewas still in production, so it’s unlikely that the mural was intended as a nod to Tobey’s appearance in the MCU.
No Way to Know
In the end,No Way Homehas only raised further questions when it comes toMorbius’ place in the MCU. In fact, while the ending ofVenom: Let There Be Carnageled many to believe that Sony would be folding its Marvel-based films into the main MCU continuity going forward, the post-credits scene ofNo Way Homedashed this theory bysending Tom Hardy’s Venom back homethanks to Doctor Strange’s magic. And with the film’s easter eggs sending mixed messages as to which universe the film takes place in, it’s tough to get a clear read on the matter.
It’s possible that some of the background references were only added for the trailer to drum up hype, and that the final film will definitely take place either in the main MCU or in another timeline in its multiverse. As for Vulture, it’s always possible that the Toomes featured inMorbiuscould be a variant, rather than the same one featured inHomecoming. But for now, with all these questions still up in the air, it’s beginning to seem likeSony’s Spider-Man Universemay not really be the shared universe it’s touted as.
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