One of the biggest questions surrounding the upcoming Sony movie Morbius is whether or not Spider-Man will be part of the story. Early trailers suggested the presence of A Spider-Man in this world, as when Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius walked in front of a mural that featured Spider-Man, and had the word “Murderer” scrawled across it. Fans also have been wondering online WHICH Spider-Man could be the Spidey of the Morbius world, be it Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, or even Tobey Maguire.
When we recently sat down with Morbius director Daniel Espinosa, we gave him the opportunity to clear up this confusion, and simply asked him if the New York City that his Michael Morbius occupies already contains a Spider-Man. And he told us:
Of course! I mean, in almost all Spider-Verse or, you know, the (universes) that existed in the Marvel universe, if you read the comic books, the whole idea of that kind of – the Marvel string theory, if you would call it that. It's very related to, if you remember, the alternative Seinfelds. You have a world where you have the same characters, and it's ALL of the characters, but they are slightly different. So in almost all verses, you have Spider-Man, or a Fantastic Four, or a Tony Stark, or a Morbius. But they will be different in tone. That's not quite the way that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (is) approaching the idea, but they're remaining to some core truth. Then you have the second kind of legend, which is about the totem. Which is that, in all universes, there is a spider totem. Which means that in all universes, there has to be a Spider-Man. Or a Spider-Woman.
Ah, so Morbius is embracing the multiversal concept that was made popular in the Marvel comic books before Spider-Man: No Way Home made it an official component of MCU Spidey’s existence. Which means, by that logic, the Spider-Man that we see branded a murderer in the Morbius trailer doesn’t have to be Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, or anyone that we already know. It could be an alternate Spider-Man who patrols this version of NYC. Which gives Sony options.
The multiverse concept was introduced in the tail end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, when Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) found himself transported to an alternate universe where Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was being unmasked by J. Jonah Jameson. But then, during the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Brock was transported BACK to… well, we don’t know yet. But we do know that Brock left a piece of his symbiote behind, teasing future problems for MCU Spider-Man that could unfold in upcoming movies.
The Sony Spider-Man universe just keeps unfolding. Aaron Taylor Johnson is currently filming a Kraven the Hunter movie in the UK (that's expected to introduce The Chameleon), while Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web movie is adding co-stars like Euphoria standout Sydney Sweeney. The future is very bright for that world, even if it’s next official stop will be in the shadows, where Morbius (Jared Leto) lurks.
