Vulture’s Morbius scene in the post-credits scene left audiences intrigued, but Spider-Man: No Way Home can explain the Michael Keaton appearance that’s been misinterpreted as a plot hole. While Morbius is a solo film aimed at introducing a character from the Spider-Man lore, the main talking points around it have been how the film fits into the Spider-Verse that Sony is building. Indeed, through Morbius’ two post-credits scenes, it was shown that Adrian Toomes was transported from his prison cell in the MCU to a prison in the Morbius universe as a side effect of the multiverse cracking in No Way Home. More than the specifics of Vulture moving between universes, something that came out as confusing was the goals that the villain had as soon as he got out of prison.
One of the most questioned points about Morbius‘ after-credits scenes is why Vulture, who, at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming chose to protect Spider-Man’s identity out of respect and gratitude to Peter, was then planning to destroy the hero instead. However, the ending of No Way Home has a perfect explanation for Adrian’s sudden change of heart. Thanks to Doctor Strange’s spell, the entire world has forgotten about Peter Parker’s existence — and that includes Vulture. The world’s memories of Spider-Man, however, remain intact, meaning Vulture remembers only a superhero known as Spider-Man ruining his life and destroying his lucrative business. In Morbius, Adrian doesn’t know that Spider-Man is Peter, the boy who was not only a friend to his daughter, but at one point also saved his life.
Vulture Only Forgot Peter Parker, Not Spider-Man
While Doctor Strange’s memory spell settles the question of why Vulture is after Spider-Man now, it can’t be denied that Adrian Toomes forgetting about Peter Parker throws off an interesting dynamic between hero and villain that had been created in Homecoming. Spider-Man and Vulture would always be at odds with each other no matter what, but Peter’s good heart and his connection to Liz meant that there was never any hatred between the hero and villain — something very different from other Spidey foes like Goblin and Venom. However, the rift between Spider-Man and Toomes no longer has any personal elements to it, at least from the villain’s point of view, and Morbius‘ new-look Vulture risks losing much of what had made him so interesting in Homecoming.
In terms of the story, Doctor Strange’s spell also caused Vulture to lose his only ace up his sleeve for a possible confrontation with Spider-Man. Even if Toomes was never going to hurt Peter, he was likely planning to play that card whenever he ran into superhero problems. That possibility is now ruled out, and Vulture’s best chance against Spider-Man is to put together the best Sinister Six he can.
Morbius‘ post-credits scenes are confusing for more than just one reason, but at least one of the pointed plot holes can be explained by Spider-Man: No Way Home. The crafting of Sony’s Spider-Man universe has been turbulent, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the studio is heading towards a Sinister Six sort of assembling event. It remains to be seen what the new relationship between Vulture and Spider-Man will be like in that new context.
The Morbius Vulture Moment Is Less Confusing Than Its X-Men Nod
Vulture’s Morbius scene took the brunt of Multiverse-related audience criticism regarding the movie, but while Doctor Strange’s spell explains this clear set-up for Sony’s Sinister Six plans, what’s really confusing about Morbius is how it hinted that the X-Men exists in the Sony universe as well. This occurs near the beginning of the movie. Dr. Emil Nicholas, who was Morbius and Milo’s mentor and surrogate father, mentioned his interest in a New York “school for gifted children.” This was obviously an allusion to the X-Men and Professor Charles Xavier’s school — however, there are both narrative and legal problems attached to Morbius‘ X-Men reference.
Unlike Vulture’s Morbius scene, which features two characters that both Sony and Marvel have rights to use onscreen, only Marvel Studios owns the rights to X-Men. The narrative implications are even bigger, as this poses the question of which version of the X-Men might exist in Morbius and the Sony-Verse, if that’s even possible. The MCU notably went to the trouble of featuring Professor X from an alternate universe to avoid a direct connection to Fox’s X-Men franchise — despite the fact that Disney/Marvel acquired the film rights for X-Men.
This is why it was a bold move for Sony’s Morbius to even just allude to the X-Men’s existence. That said, with the X-Men’s MCU debut in the works, this could be a sign that the Marvel Multiverse is going to be fully comprised of the MCU, the Sony-Verse, and Fox’s X-Men movies. Though this poses the risk of huge narrative problems that could make Marvel’s live-action Multiverse even more confusing for viewers, this merging of franchises actually echoes the MCU’s long-term plans Avengers: Secret Wars — the biggest and most ambitious planned crossover event in the history of the superhero movie genre.
