WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Morbius
Morbius director Daniel Espinosa tries to explain how Michael Morbius and Vulture share a connection with Spider-Man. Morbius is the latest Sony Marvel film to hit the big-screen, based on the comic book villain of the same name who was introduced as one of Spider-Man’s many nemeses back in 1971. Unfortunately for fans of the character, the film has been released to largely negative reviews; Morbius' Rotten Tomatoes score currently sits at 16%, and the movie is performing worse at the box office than any MCU movie.
The film stars Jared Leto as the titular biochemist, Dr. Michael Morbius, who is searching for a cure to his rare blood disease. Upon finding one, the character gains accidental powers that become hard to control, such as echolocation, enhanced strength and speed, and an unquenchable desire to consume blood. Matt Smith plays the anti-hero’s surrogate brother who shares the same disease, and acts as the film's primary antagonist. The trailers for Morbius surprised fans by hinting at a role for Spider-Man: Homecoming’s villain Vulture - however, upon the film’s release, the character was only included in the post-credits sequence.
Now, in an interview with Uproxx, Espinosa attempts to describe the ways in which Morbius and Vulture are connected to Spider-Man. The director is asked why Morbius, who is established as not being outright-evil (though also not outright good), would be interested in teaming up with Vulture. The director responds that “Vulture is not a criminal in [Morbius’] universe just yet.” He then expands on the duo’s connection to Spider-Man, saying that the Web-slinger is a “totem” and that each different Marvel universe needs a version of Spider-Man “for it to function.” Check out the director’s full quotes 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.
The director’s answers don’t fully explain why Morbius, who is not an evil character, would want to join up with Vulture and fight Spider-Man. Nor do the comments shed any light on why Vulture would want to seek out Morbius specifically. They do suggest, however, that Spider-Man has a big-screen future lined up and planned out - though whether that would be Tom Holland’s MCU version, a Sony-verse Miles Morales, or someone else is unclear.
Morbius’ motivation for fighting alongside Vulture might not seem to fit in the film’s narrative, or make much thematic sense, but it has led some audiences to question how Sony’s post-Morbius Marvel films will unfurl. The meeting of the two characters seems to signal a new iteration of the infamous Sinister Six villains group, which raises the question of which other characters will fill the remaining four slots. While there are many options, including Venom, audiences will ultimately have to wait and see - but there’s sure to be plenty of speculation along the way.
Source: Uproxx
