Morbius star says the movie is in the MCU, which Sony then denies

Tyrese Gibson has apparently confirmed that the upcoming Morbius movie is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – but Sony has denied the news.

When asked by Comic Book if the film is in the MCU, Gibson responded: "Yes." When this was followed up with "the Avengers world?" Gibson again answered: "Yes." You can check out a video of the moment below.

But, to complicate things, Sony quickly told Comic Book that the movie is not part of the MCU. Gibson also indicated the movie had shifted to an October release, which Sony also denied.

Rumors have long been swirling that the Sony superhero projects will eventually link up to the MCU. In the first Morbius trailer, we glimpsed graffiti branding Spider-Man a murderer – which could be a shoutout to the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home, when Peter Parker was framed for Mysterio's death. 

Plus, Michael Keaton is  part of Morbius, most likely reprising his role of Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Venom 2 also drew some attention when its first trailer featured the same Daily Bugle logo as the one from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, though director Andy Serkis explained: "In this, we're treating this very much as it's his own world. The Venom story is his own world."

Spider-Man 3 has been the subject of plenty of multiverse speculation, with an unconfirmed report claiming Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will be reprising their respective versions of Spidey alongside Tom Holland. Plus, Alfred Molina is confirmed to be returning as Doc Ock, and Jamie Foxx is reportedly back as Electro.

"Well, doing this movie opposite Jared Leto, man, was nerve-wracking, exciting, and inspiring," Gibson commented of Morbius. "He's really, really interesting, this guy, to work with. [Director] Daniel Espinosa kept me nervous the whole time as well. He's a real alpha, very aggressive filmmaker. He's very honest so he'll tell you, sometimes, things you don't want to hear about how to step your game up as an actor and he did it to everybody. He pulled some great performances out of everybody. I don't know, man, I think a lot of people are gonna be shocked."

Whether the various Spidey projects turn out to be linked remains to be seen. Morbius is due for release this January 28, 2022, with Spider-Man 3 arriving earlier in December 2021, and Venom this September. While you wait, check out our guide to watching Marvel movies in order to get up to speed on the MCU.