This article contains plot details and spoilers from the Spider-Man and Venom movies.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is about to grow in 2022, with Jared Leto’s vampiric antihero Morbius starring in his own movie. At this point, Marvel fans are dying to know – how exactly is Morbius connected to other Spider-Man movies? Does this movie take place in the MCU?
Those questions are only growing now that Sony has released the second Morbius trailer. There are some definite Spider-Man Easter eggs to be seen in this footage, but is this actually an MCU movie? Let’s break down the evidence so far.
Venom
There are two mentions of Venom in this trailer. The first sees a pair of detectives make mention of an incident in San Francisco, the setting of the Venom films. Then, near the end, Michael Morbius himself makes a wisecrack that his name is Venom.
Given that the end credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage transported Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) into the MCU, name-dropping Venom here — along with the appearance of Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes and a mural of Spider-Man (more on those in a bit) — heavily suggests Morbius takes place in the MCU. And yet there are other Marvel nods in the trailer that suggests otherwise.
Oscorp Tower
The new trailer features a very important Marvel landmark in the New York City skyline. Oscorp Tower is featured in both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s respective Spider-Man movies, but neither it nor its owner, Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin, have yet appeared in the MCU.
However, the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer includes shots of a Goblin pumpkin bomb and it’s been widely reported that Willem Dafoe will reprise his role as Norman from the Sam Raimi trilogy in the multiversal No Way Home. (It’s also worth noting the popular fan theory suggesting Osborn is the one who bought Avengers Tower from Tony Stark in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that has yet to be proven.)
In any case, the Morbius trailer confirms that Norman Osborn and his corporate empire exist in whatever universe Michael Morbius inhabits. But whether this Osborn has become the Green Goblin yet remains to be seen.
The Daily Bugle
We can see a glimpse of a Daily Bugle newspaper in the trailer, which suggests a link between Morbius and the two Venom movies. As in Venom, the Bugle is shown to be a major American newspaper with a logo similar to that seen in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies.
This alone suggests Morbius isn’t taking place in the MCU. As established in the mid-credits scene for Spider-Man: Far From Home, the MCU’s Bugle isn’t a newspaper but an InfoWars-style web show hosted by J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson.
Black Cat and Rhino
The Daily Bugle newspaper includes two more intriguing Easter eggs, with both Black Cat and Rhino referenced in the headlines. This would seem to suggest both characters have been around in this universe long enough to gain some notoriety. Rhino, of course, previously appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 where he was played by Paul Giamatti.
Black Cat was originally meant to star in a team-up movie with Silver Sable called Silver and Black. That project has fallen by the wayside, but it’s possible Morbius is setting up a solo Black Cat movie for the near future.
Horizon Labs
Morbius looks to be serving as the live-action debut for a major Spider-Man organization. We can see the Horizon Labs building in the trailer. Horizon is a high-tech research facility run by eccentric scientist Max Modell. In the comics, it employs some of the smartest people on the planet, including both Peter Parker and Morbius himself at different points. It’s likely Horizon will factor heavily into Michael Morbius’ transformation into a living vampire in the movie.
While Horizon hasn’t appeared in a live-action Marvel movie before, a version of it does play a major role in the animated series Marvel’s Spider-Man. There, a teenage Peter Parker attends Horizon High.
The Spider-Man Graffiti
The new trailer features a familiar sight from the first trailer – the graffiti depicting Spider-Man with the word “murderer.” That would seem to suggest the movie is, in fact, taking place in the MCU. Thanks to the events of Far From Home, Tom Holland’s Spidey has had his identity leaked and been framed for the murder of Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio.
But as we established, the Daily Bugle cameo argues against Morbius being set in the MCU. There’s also the fact that the graffiti is depicting Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man costume. Does that mean Morbius is set in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man universe, and Maguire’s Peter has suffered a similar misfortune to Holland’s?
Michael Keaton
The trailer, like the first Morbius trailer, also sees the return of Michael Keaton’s character. Presumably, Keaton is reprising the role of Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture, from Spider-Man: Homecoming, though we never actually learn his character’s name here. This footage is the strongest piece of evidence so far that Morbius is set within the MCU.
But at the same time, the scene raises more questions than it answers. It appears to take place outside a prison or police station with Toomes possibly being transferred out as Morbius is processed in. But what’s his connection to Morbius? And is this the same version of Toomes from Homecoming, or is Keaton playing a different incarnation of the character a la Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson?
Given the head-scratching post-credits scene in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, this could be another case of a familiar Spider-Man character crossing from one universe to another. We can only hope things will start making a lot more sense after Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters.
Which Marvel universe do you think Morbius is set in? Let us know in the comments.