New Sony/Marvel movie Morbius gives a new origin story to Spider-Man villain Morbius: The Living Vampire, who must face a former friend and his own bloodlust when he develops unusual, brutal gifts.
But frankly, all anyone is talking about from this film isn’t Jared Leto’s performance or whether Matt Smith will return – they’re just fascinated by the slightly unusual post-credits scenes that close the film, hinting at a future team-up that might just involve Spider-Man and some other familiar characters.
Check out our breakdown of what happens and what it means below, but beware – we’re dealing firmly in spoiler territory.
**Spoiler warning for Morbius**
Morbius post-credits scene 1 explained
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Quick summary of the Morbius ending – after fighting and killing his friend Milo/Lucien (Matt Smith) Morbius flies away with a lot of bats, while his love interest Martine (Adria Arjona) is revealed to have survived her apparent death and become a sort-of-vampire herself. It’s unclear what Morbius plans to do next until outside events apparently decide for him.
After the main action of the movie ends, the sky over New York City tears open, with an effect familiar to anyone who’s seen Spider-Man: No Way Home. Basically, something multiverse-y is clearly happening, as the last time, we saw this sky-tear was when the walls between universes were about to collapse in the 2021 Spidey film.
As this happens, we see the familiar figure of Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes/Vulture, the villain of Spider-Man: Homecoming, appear inside the prison. The yellow glow around him is similar to the one we saw affect Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock, Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn and many others in Spider-Man: No Way Home when they eventually returned home to their own universes, confirming he’s been similarly transported from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the Sony Universe (or whatever it’s called at the moment).
Attention, #SpiderMan fans! We have a special Friday treat. @MorbiusMovie director Daniel Espinosa agreed to answer every juicy questions you have about Spider-Man, Venom, Vulture and all the #Marvel Easter Eggs in the upcoming movie. Are you ready? ***SPOILERS*** in the thread. pic.twitter.com/JmQgM9onVS
— CinemaBlend (@CinemaBlend) March 25, 2022
“At the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man No Way Home […], it is clearly established that it is possible for characters to transfer from one Multiverse to another,” director Daniel Espinosa told CinemaBlend in a Twitter Q&A.
“The events of No Way Home had the effect of transferring Venom and Vulture (and maybe others) back and forth between the MCU and the Venom Universe.”
“Hope the food’s better in this joint,” Toomes wisecracks when he arrives in the Venom/Morbius universe, curiously indifferent to the loss of his loving family from Homecoming. Soon after, news reports suggest that because this man just appeared in prison, a “hearing has been held that could likely lead to his immediate release.”
Apparently, there’s no Adrian Toomes in this universe, and even if there is he’s committed no specific crimes here.
Anyway, this segment concludes with Toomes presumably being released from prison, with his next steps chronicled in the subsequent post-credit scene. Oddly, scenes from the trailers of Toomes in his prison uniform interacting with Morbius have been cut from the finished film – instead, he only meets him masked, as recounted below.
Morbius post-credits scene 2 explained
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We rejoin Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius as he drives in the desert, stopping at a specified location. As a gust of wind blows around him, he extends his claws – and a moment later The Vulture flies in, having apparently replicated his flying apparatus from Spider-Man Homecoming (though with some changes, including a more beak-like helmet).
“If you look closely, you will see it is not quite the same suit as Homecoming,” director Espinosa told Cinemablend. “He is a resourceful guy.”
“Thanks for meeting me Doc,” Toomes says, noting that he’d read about Morbius in the papers.
“I’m listening,” Morbius replies.
“I’m not sure how I got here,” Toomes continues. “Has to do with Spider-Man, I think.
“I’m still figuring this place out, but I think a bunch of guys like us should team up, and do some good.”
“Intriguing,” is Morbius’ only response.
Does Morbius set up a Sinister Six movie?
Anyway, this is clearly an attempted set-up for a future ‘Sinister Six’ movie, based on the group of villains of the same name that previously fought Spider-Man in the source comics. Back in 2014, Sony had plans to spin the Six off from Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, only to shelve the idea when they teamed up with Marvel a couple of years later instead.
Now, with a stable of “Spider-Man villain solo movies” (Venom, Morbius, the upcoming Kraven the Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson) they’re well on their way to assembling an onscreen Sinister Six. Including Vulture, they’ve got four on the books already, and it can’t be too hard to add a couple more.
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Still, it’s a little unclear what the function of this group would be. In the case of Venom and Morbius’ recent films, former villains have been framed as antiheroic protagonists, whereas the original Sinister Six’s main goal was to destroy Spider-Man and ‘do crimes’. In a universe without Spider-Man and where they don’t want to do crimes, what will they do?
Could we instead be getting some sort of more Superheroic Six, Sony’s answer to the Avengers made up of Spider-Man villains who’ve never met Spider-Man? Stranger things have happened.
“Well, he is recruiting teammates, and he has enticed one already,” is all Espinosa would offer. “So it sure looks like a start.”
Espinosa, confusingly, said that there is “of course” a Spider-Man in Morbius/Venom’s universe, and that “audiences will discover the answer soon” – so could a new Spider-Man, a variant of Tom Holland’s version or maybe even a returning Andrew Garfield arrive to face this new villain team? Assuming they are villains, and not just trying to “do some good” this time?
The relative success or failure of Morbius may decide whether we find out. While Kraven the Hunter is already shooting, Sony has tried and failed to launch Sinister Six spin-offs before – only time will tell if this new version is a success.
- Read More: What age rating is Morbius?
- Read More: Morbius review: Jared Leto movie reaches new depths of disappointment
- Read More: Meet the cast of Morbius: Full list of Marvel characters in movie
Morbius is in UK cinemas now. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.
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