What Does Michael Keaton’s Cameo in the ‘Morbius’ Trailer Mean for the Flick?
The trailer for Morbius, Sony’s much anticipated comic movie, was recently released. While the trailer promises some action-packed storytelling, Marvel fans noticed a couple of crossovers in the trailer that could hint at big things coming in the future. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Micheal Keaton’s the Vulture in the trailer’s final scene. Does the surprise cameo mean Morbius is tied to the MCU?
The Morbius trailer shocked fans with the inclusion of a villain
Morbius’ story is a little complicated in the comic book world. Suffering from a rare blood disorder, Dr. Michael Morbius develops an experimental treatment. The treatment, involving vampire bats, turns him into a living vampire, and his bloodthirst takes over. Morbius ends up meeting up with Spider-Man after traveling to the United States. He eventually, tries to kill him. Morbius escapes, but Spider-Man and Dr. Connors track him down, assuming he could be a cure for their own issues.
Because Morbius is inherently tied to Spider-Man, it makes sense that elements of Spider-Man would work its way into the upcoming flick. The inclusion of the Vulture into the trailer was a bit of a surprise, though. How that will all play out, in the long run, remains unknown.
Does the Vulture’s appearance in Morbius tie Sony’s cinematic universe and the MCU together?
While there hasn’t been much chatter about exactly where Morbius fits into the MCU, a couple of clues from the trailer have made it pretty easy to guess where the film fits into the MCU timeline. As everyone knows, the Vulture, also known as Adrain Toomes, was seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017. In the movie, he is arrested after attempting to steal a plane carrying weapons. In the end credits, Toomes is seen wearing a prison jumpsuit, leading fans to believe that the supervillain is safely behind bars.
When Toomes, portrayed by Michael Keaton, appears in the Morbius trailer, he is still wearing his prison garb, indicating that Morbius takes place after Spider-Man: Homecoming. Screenrant notes that Tomme’s attire suggests that he may have just escaped from prison when he connects with Morbius. A poster of Spider-Man with the word, “murderer” scrolled over it, further indicates that Morbius takes place after Spider-Man: Homecoming.
In a sense, the appearance of the Vulture does tie Morbius to the MCU. At least, it creates a bridge that allows Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to move effortlessly between cinematic universes, which, in short, was the entire point. With that being said, Morbius fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. It’s unlikely that Morbius will be heavily featured in upcoming MCU flicks.
Is Morbius part of the MCU?
With the appearance of Toomes in the trailer, and the apparent nod to Spider-Man: Homecoming fans are wondering if Morbius will officially be added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Forbes has terrible news for fans. While the publication claims that Sony absolutely would like Morbius to be thought to tie into the universe, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards, at least right now.
Forbes theorizes that Sony is merely pumping up the connection to remind Disney just how valuable the Marvel villains they currently own actually are. The production house had success with Venom and is looking to repeat it with further Venom flicks. They are likely attempting to do the same with Morbius, although the casting of Jared Leto in the role might be considered a significant risk.
