WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Morbius, now playing in theaters.
Morbius continues to expand the Sony Spider-Man Universe, which the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed exists within the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Multiverse. Despite being largely self-contained and separated from the likes of Spider-Man, the film actually finds a way to set the stage for a number of new characters to move forward in the universe.
Morbius ends with a number of potential story beats still in the air, setting the stage for the future of the Sony Spider-Man Universe in a number of ways — including some that take on a potentially multiversal aspect.
Morbius ends on a fairly ambiguous note, with a number of minor teases towards the future of the universe. Morbius (Jared Leto) remains alive and active — albeit wanted by the FBI and the police — ending the film escaping New York after administering the cure to his vampiric serum to his former best friend Milo (Matt Smith), killing him. This sets up the possibility that Morbius will be a completely unrestrained figure going forward in this universe. While he has not yet gained control of his more animalistic self, he has seemed to embrace it — using his powers in increasingly shocking ways to defeat Milo and make his escape from the city. This allows Morbius to either appear in other stories or to fade off into the background with ease, depending on the future designs for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
Despite Milo being killed, Morbius isn’t the only person with apparent access to the vampiric powers he accidentally created. Throughout the film, Morbius’ associate Martine (Adria Arjona) serves as his one consistent ally. She assists him in his experiments and continues to do so after he’s transformed. The pair even share a kiss — which Milo witnesses, allowing him to target her to enrage Morbius. Fatally wounded, Martine seemingly dies in Morbius’ arms — a drop of his blood getting into her mouth before he feeds on her body to prepare for the fight with Milo. But before the credits roll, Martine’s eyes are seen reopening with red coloring, suggesting Morbius has at least somewhat infected her with his condition, if not fully transformed her.
This could allow Martine to follow in the footsteps of her original comics counterpart, who’d also been Morbius’ love interest and assisted in his transformation. On Earth-616 (the primary setting of Marvel Comics), Martine attempted to restore Morbius multiple times. After briefly being turned into a vampire herself, Morbius was able to cure her. But her desire to live an eternal life with Morbius led her to embrace becoming a genuine mystical vampire — with Morbius eventually forced to stake her through the heart to save Spider-Man. While the specifics of the story may not come to pass, Martine’s eventual tragic fate could await her if she returns in future films.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is also expanding in more than one way, with the film teasing the existence of other characters by openly referring to Venom or teasing the existence of Rhino and Chameleon via The Daily Bugle. The film also takes a wild swing with its post-credits sequences, which reveal that the Vulture (Michael Keaton) from the Marvel Cinematic Universe was transported over to Morbius’ world by the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. This specifically teases the possibility of a team-up of characters associated, but not necessarily aligned, with Spider-Man, setting up a potential film that could involve a version of the Wall-Crawler.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius is now playing in theaters.
About The Author
