Fans are a week away from experiencing Morbius and things do not seem to be going as planned. The Jared Leto-starring blood-sucking epic has had impressions leak ahead of its review embargo, and initial reactions are less than glowing, to say the least. The Sony Spider-Man Universe's latest has been in the works for a long time, but after multiple delays, it's seemingly ready to come out.
The film follows Leto's Michael Morbius, a biochemist who in an attempt to cure himself of a rare blood disease inadvertently gives himself a form of vampirism. Other than that still not much is known about the project, with confusion popping up around every corner.
Throughout the film's long marketing campaign, hints at all three different on-screen Spider-Men have appeared, bringing up the big question 'what universe does Morbius actually take place in?' Well, director Daniel Espinosa has come out to clear the air on just that subject; although he may have brought up more questions than he actually answered.
Answering the Morbius Universe Question
In an interview with CinemaBlend Morbius director Daniel Espinosa finally confirmed that the Jared Leto-led blockbuster takes place in the same universe as Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
When asked to clarify confusion about the ties between Sony's two Marvel franchises, Espinosa point-blank answered, "Morbius lives in the same universe as Venom," going a step further in saying "this is the universe we saw Venom exit at the end of Venom: Let there be Carnage:"
“Morbius lives in the same universe as Venom. This is the universe we saw Venom exit at the end of Venom: Let there be Carnage and return to at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home.“
While this may be an easy answer for some, it could lead to further confusion about why the movie's multiple Spider-Man references featured during promotion were notably absent from the Venom films.
This prompted the interviewer to follow up in asking if a Spider-Man existed in this universe, to which the Morbius director responded "of course." But would not confirm as to which Spidey it is, instead of saying it is his understanding that "audiences will [soon] discover" what version of the wall-crawler exists in the universe:
CinemaBlend: "OK, so, which Spider-Man exists in Venom’s universe?'
Espinosa: "It is my understanding that audiences will discover the answer soon."
Caught in a Spider's Web
Well, that clears it up right? Surely fans will be totally and completely satisfied with the level of clarity of which these answers provided... NOT!
While these answers may not be what everyone was hoping for, it does feel like Sony at least is planning something with the Spidey characters they have in their stable. Espinosa alludes to such here in these quotes.
"It is my understanding that audiences will discover the answer soon," means that Sony is planning something. What that thing actually is or the quality of that thing when fans get it is still up in the air, but it feels like the road is being laid to somewhere.
It will be interesting to know just how far in advance these plans came together though. If fan speculation is true and this Venom-verse Spidey is Andrew Garfield's wall-crawler, does that mean that these plans only came together after Sony saw the reaction to the actor coming back in No Way Home? Or was this always in the cards?
And it feels like things are only going to get more confusing as Sony's Spider-Man Universe continues to expand. Right now they are just toying with the Multiverse, but when they introduce Madame Web in her own film, someone who is closely tied to the Spider-verse in the comics, then things are really going to get bonkers.
For now, fans will have to find the answers to these questions themselves when Morbius hits theaters on April 1.
