The Morbius Trailer Has Us Asking Questions About Sony's Spider-Man Villain Universe
A brand new trailer for Sony's "Morbius" movie has arrived, serving as the studio's next entry in the "Spider-Man" spin-off universe that kicked off with "Venom" in 2018. Since Sony still controls the movie rights to all of Spider-Man's characters — hundreds and hundreds of them — they are attempting to build out solo franchises for lesser-known characters (mostly villains) in the hopes of building something akin to the MCU, just without many heavy-hitters. The studio has officially dubbed this "Sony's Spider-Man Universe." In this case, we have Jared Leto bringing the so-called Living Vampire to life. And the latest trailer has raised some big questions about Sony's plans for the universe, and what it all might mean for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What's With the Oscorp Logo?
As we can see in the above image here, an Oscorp building has been included in the skyline. This carries with it massive implications as this implies the existence of Norman Osborn, the man who becomes Green Goblin. Not to mention his son, Harry Osborn, who is Peter Parker's best friend that eventually takes up the mantle himself. Considering that we haven't seen any of these characters (or Oscorp for that matter) in the MCU, this is worth raising an eyebrow over. Though we did almost get an Oscorp crossover between "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Avengers" nearly a decade ago. Oh, how times have changed.
How Is This Movie Connected to Venom?
Obviously, Sony was always going to connect future movies like "Morbius" to "Venom," but the connection wasn't made explicit until this trailer. There is the line at the end of the trailer that may best be ignored, but there are also references to San Francisco, clearly hinting at what happened in "Venom." However, it's unclear just how tied together these movies will ultimately be, and how Eddie Brock might interact with Michael Morbius, if at all. In this regard, we have more questions than answers.
What's With That Spider-Man Grafitti?
While the same shot appears in the previous trailer, it is still worth discussing as precisely zero questions have been answered. What's with that Spider-Man graffiti in the alleyway? This kind of seems like a reference to Tom Holland's Spidey killing Mysterio at the end of "Spider-Man: Far From Home." However, that is pretty clearly a depiction of Tobey Maguire's version of the character from the Sam Raimi "Spider-Man" trilogy. Does this imply that "Morbius" takes place in that universe? Or is it just a fun Easter egg? The multiverse of the moment is a real head-scratcher.
What's Sony's Plan Here?
There is so much going on here. Sony is most definitely attempting to establish a shared cinematic universe with "Venom," and that carries huge implications given what happened in "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," particularly that game-changing post-credits scene that also has implications for the MCU. So, if these movies are connected, it's all connected, especially with Marvel going full-on multiverse between "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Yet, we've also got an appearance from Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture, who was the villain in "Spider-Man: Homecoming." This leads to a seemingly simple question; what exactly is Sony planning here? It feels like something big but, for now, the bigness of it remains nebulous — and arguably confusing.
What Happens if Morbius Fails?
This is more of a question from the business side of things, but a very important one nonetheless. "Morbius" is doing a lot of heavy lifting with these multiversal connections but that begs the question, is Sony assuming a certain level of success here? That is a dangerous game to play because this movie is by no means a guaranteed hit. To that end, what happens if this movie flops both critically and commercially? "Venom" took it in the teeth with critics but did gangbusters business at the box office. "Morbius" can't be a money-loser financially and justify a continuation of the franchise.
Do Sony's future plans hinge on this movie being a success? Can they pivot if it's a failure? Are other movies like "Kraven the Hunter" hinging on this movie doing well? If the studio went all-in, they may have accidentally built a house of cards that could come tumbling down. But without knowing more of what's going on behind the scenes, it's all relegated to the realm of speculation and wonder. We'll see what happens soon enough.
"Morbius" is currently set to hit theaters on January 28, 2022.