After a series of delays setting the movie back a couple of years, Morbius is just around the corner (truly, it’s now only two sleeps away). But who is this villain that most people haven’t heard of from the Spider-Man comics? Well, here’s who he is and how Morbius fits into the MCU and the other Spider-Man films.
Courtesy note, though – the movie isn’t out yet, so there will be no spoilers for Morbius in this article. However, we will be touching on Spider-Man: No Way Home briefly down below.
First, some trailers
Here’s the official trailer for Morbius.
Two years ago, this teaser trailer was released for Morbius, largely made up of the same clips.
Lastly, as if there was anything left to show in the film, we got the final trailer.
If you’re hungry for more, we also got this bonus clip.
What’s the deal with Morbius?
We get quite a detailed idea for what the movie is about in the trailers – Dr. Michael Morbius (played by Jared Leto), a disabled doctor with a rare blood disease who sets off to find a cure for his disability, becomes a vampire when he discovers said cure, seeking to push the boundaries of health and science. He gets super strength, speed and “some form of bat radar”, at the cost of becoming a blood-sucking vampire. It also looks to be quite a gory affair.
Also, for whatever reason, Michael Keaton appears to be in this movie – he played the villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is admittedly a separate Spider-Man universe (the MCU) but could still be linked through the multiverse. Also, this movie is in the same universe as Venom, as the last few seconds of the official trailer indicate. These films are linked by “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” (actual name).
As far as I can tell, the only new stuff in the final trailer is an extra couple of seconds with Matt Smith, who plays Loxias Crown, Mobius’ friend who suffers from the same blood disease (and clearly ends up getting the same superpowers), screaming about killing all the people in the world who had the gall to not be dying of a rare blood disease.
But wait. What’s that?
From the second trailer, that appears to be Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man – or, for whatever reason, could be Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, with “Murderer” graffitied over the poster.
That’s VERY interesting. So what you’re saying is that there could be a Spider-Man in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe? Shocking! We don’t get another glimpse of Spider-Man in this trailer, but that could change when the movie comes out.
Back to less multiversal stuff, the movie seems to pick up on the beats of the original comic Morbius quite well, applying a modern flair to the extravagant vampire of older Marvel comics. He has an undying thirst for human blood, caught between humanity and vampirism. It looks to be a cross between a monster flick and a superhero film, very much like Venom.
But while we’re getting swept up in it all, it’s worth remembering what happened the last time someone tried to adapt Morbius.
We’re going into spoiler territory for Spider-Man: No Way Home below, so just watch out.
Where does this all fit into the MCU?
Not at all, is the short answer, but the long answer is that Morbius is strenuously tied to the MCU through whatever Spider-Man was shown in that poster. Considering No Way Home was about a wider multiverse (and a Spider-Verse) featuring Tom Holland, Tobey Macquire and Andrew Garfield, it’s entirely possible that there is some connection to be made between Morbius and the MCU.
For all intents and purposes, though, Morbius exists within Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. But why is Morbius‘ director hinting otherwise? There’s also a bit of a tangled web of every Spider-Man movie currently in the works. We might be proven wrong here, but we wouldn’t hate that.
Speaking to Digital Spy, director Daniel Espinosa joked about Marvel secrecy while revealing the big MCU plot point he had to carefully guard.
“I had moments where they would take me into a room in the lot which is soundproof and they’d inject a small chip into your brain and they’d tell you certain things and then you’re allowed to exit,” he joked during the DS interview.
“You have to know certain things about where things are guided, but they allowed me to develop the idea of the picture and also the style.
“Morbius should be a very unique character and it should be an outsider. I wanted to have the opportunity to do my own New York and keep a bit of my version of what this side of Marvel should be.”
Who is starring in Morbius?
To recap: Jared Leto will play the titular Dr. Michael Morbius, with Jared Harris as Emil Nikols, Adria Arjona as Martine Bancroft, Tyrese Gibson as Simon Stroud and Matt Smith as Loxias Crown. Very excited to see one of the actors who played Doctor Who as a villain. Michael Keaton will also be appearing in an unnamed role.
Morbius release date
Morbius will officially release in Australia on 31 March, after being delayed from January. It’s two years since the original expected release of Morbius and four years since the movie was announced. Altogether, this is its seventh delay. Ultimately, these delays are trivial, but they admittedly hit hard for the superhero genre. To make it a little easier to digest, we decided to look back at some of the most infamous delays that superhero movies have faced in recent years.
Reception so far
Recently, we were hyped for Uncharted and boy did that movie adaptation miss the mark. We really, really hope this isn’t the case with Morbius. But those who have had early access to the flick have reported, for the most part, Morbius is not good. Chief complaints include dodgy CGI, poor storytelling and an uneven tone. The post-credit scenes have been called “some of the WORST you’ve ever seen”. Here’s what Espinosa had to say on those post-credit scenes.
There’s also not too much praise for Leto, but the response to Matt Smith’s over-the-top villain seems to be positive. Let’s see what Thursday brings.
This post has been updated since it was first published and we’ll continue to make changes as we learn more. Make sure you check out our article on every major sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, horror and adventure flick hitting cinemas in 2022.
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