Sony Pictures is in quite an interesting position with its superhero projects, both in an out of their Spider-Man Universe. The company's latest team-up with Marvel Studios in Spider-Man: No Way Home became the hit movie of 2021 as it makes its way toward its home release on digital and physical media. Now, Sony is preparing to bring Morbius to theaters, the second solo franchise after Tom Hardy's Venom and its sequel.
Morbius is finally ready to make its theatrical debut after an almost unprecedented 18+ month delay to its release, much of it due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic. These troubles come on top of recent struggles with reception, as many early screenings haven't yielded great results, although Sony remains optimistic for its prospects.
Sony is working hard to build its own cown cinematic universe holding Morbius, Venom, and other Marvel villains, although there are no signs pointing to Spider-Man's place within the story at this point in time. However, there may be changes to that status in the near future, according to recent quotes from the company's latest director.
Spider-Man Coming to Venom Franchise?
Cinema Blend spoke with Morbius director Daniel Espinosa through a Twitter thread about the potential for Spider-Man to appear in the same universe as Venom and Morbius.
When asked about whether there is "a Spider-Man in Venom's universe," Espinosa answered simply by saying "of course."
Cinema Blend proceeded to ask about "which Spider-Man exists" in that world, to which Espinosa teased that "audiences will discover the answer soon."
When Will Sony Use Spider-Man in SSMU?
Following Marvel Studios' partnership with Sony Pictures, Spider-Man has only been featured in the MCU thanks to Tom Holland's performance (outside of the full trio from Spider-Man: No Way Home). Considering how Sony's universe is built on either Spider-Man villains and characters the web-slinger has teamed up with, it seems that an appearance from some version of Spider-Man should be in place.
The sticky hero's place in this world is still unclear, especially as other major characters like Venom and Morbius currently have the spotlight. On top of this, Sony has avoided giving any sort of clear answer regarding any version of Spidey making a potential appearance in these movies planned for the future.
The closest thing to anything definitive came with the post-credits scene from Venom: Let There Be Carnage, although it was completely undone by what happened at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Now that the MCU and the SSMU are fairly definitively separate, fans will have to continue to wait and see regarding any Spidey-related developments from Sony. Hopefully, there will be a way for the studio to work Spider-Man into the fold without too much of a hassle, especially with his MCU future still being developed, but there is no way to set anything into stone.
For now, Morbius is set to arrive in theaters on April 1.
