THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FILM MORBIUS. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! Morbius director Daniel Espinosa is doing his best to explain how the titular character, played by Jared Leto, and Vulture (Michael Keaton) share a connection with Spider-Man in this particular universe. There are two mid-credit scenes involving Vulture and it seems to hint, for better or worse, that Sony wants to explore some sort of Sinister Six team-up and even though Morbius isn’t exactly a villain, Espinosa is explaining how he could get wrapped up in a plan to go up against Spider-Man.
The trailers for Morbius initially intrigued some fans because they hinted at a role for Spider-Man: Homecoming’s villain Vulture, which seems to connect it to the greater MCU. That intrigue was dashed a bit when fans finally saw Morbius over the weekend as the character was only featured during a mid-credits sequence. The second scene indicates that Vulture wants to team up with Morbius and he also mentions Spider-Man being a reason for the union. During a recent interview with Uproxx, Espinosa tries to explain why Morbius would get in league with Vulture by saying, “Vulture is not a criminal in [Morbius’] universe just yet.” He then says the connection with Spider-Man could be explained by using the web-slinger as a “totem” and he indicated that each Marvel universe needs its own version of Spider-Man “for it to function.” You can check out Espinosa’s full quote below!
“First of all, Vulture is not a criminal in that universe just yet… [Morbius would be interested in what Vulture has to say] because in this world, Spider-Man exists. In all the different Marvel timelines, you have a Spider-Man, it’s a totem. In the Marvel Universe, what you say is that you have to have a Spider-Man in each universe for it to function. He’s one of the fundamental beings. Now, that’s how it is in the comic books.
Despite his best attempts to explain all of this, it doesn’t really make much sense within the finished film we received this weekend. It really feels like Sony threw in those mid-credit scenes in an attempt to keep up its universe-building without much thought about if it really works or not. Why would Vulture seek out Morbius? Why would Morbius really want to team up with him against someone he doesn’t really know? Granted, Morbius could very well know of Spider-Man but there is nothing to hint at that in the film until the tacked on mid-credits sequence which only exists to make sure Sony is still connecting this all to Spider-Man in some way. There is also the aforementioned Sinister Six angle which could be what Sony is attempting to do. Will it work? Let’s just say I’m not 100 percent confident in Sony being left to their own devices with these characters. They clearly need a Marvel assist.
What are YOUR thoughts on the mid-credits scenes in Morbius and what it means for the future of Spider-Man. Vulture, and even Michael Keaton’s further involvement?