Warning: SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home are ahead!
Before the pandemic, Morbius, the third entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, was supposed to arrive in July 2020, but nearly a year and a half later, it remains away from our eyeballs due to numerous date shifts. Well, that wait has extended yet again, as Sony Pictures announced yesterday that it’s moved the Jared Leto-led movie from January 28 to April 1. However, now fans are thinking that Morbius was pushed back this time around was so it can establish a key tie with Spider-Man: No Way Home.
As those who’ve seen the latest Spider-Man movie know, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker joined forces with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of the same character in the third act, and fortunately, both of the older Spider-Men survived the climatic conflict and made it back to their respective universes. In the weeks following Spider-Man: No Way Home’s release, there have been various rumors that Sony would like to bring back Maguire and Garfield’s version of Spider-Man for more movies. To that end, many fans (via Comicbook.com) are theorizing that Morbius’ release was delayed three months in order to shoot a scene featuring Garfield’s Spider-Man.
Now just to be be clear, the likeliest reason for Morbius’ latest delay was for the same reason as it’s been pre-2020: COVID-19. The Omicron variant is making the rounds, and since January is typically a quiet month on the cinematic front even without a virus interfering (not to mention that Morbius the Living Vampire isn’t nearly as well known as Sony’s Spider-Man universe cohort Venom, so his movie has more of an uphill battle ahead of it at achieving box office success), Sony evidently felt Morbius would perform better at the beginning of April. Nevertheless, Morbius being pushed back to include a tag with Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man is an intriguing prospect.
To be fair, there is a scene from the first Morbius trailer that sees Jared Leto walking down an alleyway featuring graffiti artwork of Spider-Man, with this version of the Web-Slinger wearing a costume that looks like the one Andrew Garfield wore in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So that by itself indicates a Spider-Man exists in the same universe that Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius lives in, and with so many people being jazzed about Garfield’s return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, getting to spend a little bit more time with him in Morbius would be a good way to keep that momentum going. That said, there is some confusion regarding Morbius’ ties to other Marvel movies.
For one thing, it was indicated in the Morbius trailer released a few months back that Michael Morbius does indeed live in the same universe as Tom Hardy’s Venom, who was transported to the MCU at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and then returned home in Spider-Man: No Way Home’s mid-credits scene. However, Eddie Brock had never heard of Spider-Man until that multiversal craziness, and if a reporter who’s traveled the world wasn’t aware of a web-spinning superhero, then why would a scientist suffering from a rare blood disorder be in the know?
Then there’s also the fact that Michael Keaton is reprising Adrian Toomes in Morbius, so if a Spider-Man were to exist in this universe, it’d be Tom Holland’s, i.e. the one he fought in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Which would still be odd, because again, Venom and Morbius don’t live in the MCU.
Clearly there are some continuity issues that need to be addressed in Morbius, and it’s a slim bet that scene shot at the last minute featuring Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man is being thrown into the mix, we’ll naturally let you know if this ends up happening when the movie comes out in a few months. For now, browse through our 2022 release schedule to see what other cinematic offerings are lined up for this year.
