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Warning: Major spoilers for Morbius ahead! Bookmark this page and come back later if you haven't seen the movie yet!
Morbius is here, and it's raising all kinds of questions about the nature of the Marvel universe. The first trailer for the film sent theories into overdrive when graffiti of Spider-Man scrawled with "liar" was spotted, which seemed a blatant reference to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Then there's Michael Keaton appearing as Vulture, an MCU character. So what exactly is going on? Is Morbius in the MCU, or is something else entirely happening?
Is Morbius in the MCU?
Morbius is not in the MCU, but adjacent to the MCU and features an MCU character.
The film stands apart from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that counts the Avengers among its heroes, and instead takes place in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, which so far also includes Venom and Venom 2.
Interestingly, the trailers featured Spider-Man graffiti, yet that's been cut from the final version of the movie, and there are no references to MCU events in Morbius – until, that is, the post-credits.
But Vulture is from the MCU, right?
This is where things get complicated. In the Morbius post-credits scenes, we see the multidimensional rift that opened in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes is transported from the MCU to the Sony-verse. He then attempts to recruit Morbius into what's likely shaping up to be the Sinister Six, the infamous group that tries to take down Spider-Man. Vulture even says he thinks his sudden arrival has something to do with Spider-Man. However, there's no clue as to whether Morbius actually recognizes the name or not.
It's also worth noting that, in the Venom 2 post-credits scene and the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene, Tom Hardy's Venom popped from the Sony-verse into the MCU and then back into the Sony-verse (though leaving a glob of Venom behind in the MCU).
For now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe are telling parallel stories, with characters crossing over thanks to Doctor Strange's antics in No Way Home, but that is the only real connection. These are separate timelines. We also don't know who the Spider-Man in the Sony-verse actually is. Could it be a Tom Holland variant? Or perhaps Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker?
There's likely to be more universe hopping in the upcoming Doctor Strange 2. Considering that film's official title is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we can expect plenty of more crossovers to come, and some may well include the Sony-verse.
Morbius is in UK cinemas from March 31, and US theaters from April 1. If you're all caught up, check out our ultimate guide to Marvel Phase 4 for everything the MCU has in store – and see our guide to the Morbius ending explained and the Morbius post-credits scenes. You can also read our interviews with director Daniel Espinosa on working with Jared Leto, the film's horror tone, and Keaton's cameo, and star Matt Smith on joining the Marvel universe and playing the villain.
