Morbius: Sony says film is not in the MCU despite Tyrese Gibson’s claims

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Did Tyrese Gibson overstep? The Fast and Furious actor is a co-star in the upcoming Sony Pictures Marvel film, Morbius, and he let out a bold claim that the film is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that the movie may shift its release date once again. Sony Pictures has now stepped in to refute what Gibson's loose lips let slip out.

This all started when Gibson made comments during an interview with ComicBook.com while promoting Fast and Furious 9. First Gibson said, in regards to the film, that "They just pushed the movie to October 2022 because they want to take advantage of that Halloween energy." As the interview continues, Gibson was asked if Morbius was set in the MCU and the actor responded with a simple "Yes." The interviewer then asked for clarification by asking if the film was set in "the Avengers world", and Gibson, once again, repeated "Yes." You can see some of that interview below:

News of this interview reached Sony Pictures pretty quickly and, according to Gamespot, the studio confirmed that Morbius is still on track to be released on January 28, 2022, and is not shifting to October 2022. Furthermore, Sony Pictures also said that Morbius will not join the MCU and is still rooted in Sony Pictures' Marvel Universe.

Morbius suffered several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film's original release date was July 10, 2020, which was then shifted to July 31, 2020. From there the film was pushed to Match 19, 2021, and then to October 8, 2021. After that delay, the film saw another release date shift to January 21, 2022, and from there Morbius was moved one last time to its current date of January 28, 2022. I'm not sure what insider info Tyrese thought he had about another release date change but Sony has refuted his claims so this may just be a case of the actor simply talking too much. 

The MCU connection is a bit more problematic. Sony Pictures is denying the film is in the MCU but some of the marketing indicates that isn't the case. For instance, in the film's trailer, Michael Keaton makes an appearance as Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, a role he originated in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Even though Sony and Marvel share the rights to the Spider-Man character, Spider-Man: Homecoming is very much a part of the MCU so it's a bit confusing. Is Sony merely being coy? Did Tyrese reveal this news too early and they want to do damage control? Hard to tell at this point.

Do YOU think Morbius is a part of the MCU?