Sony really wants fans to know that Morbius and Venom 2 are connected to Spider-Man and the MCU. When Venom hit theaters in 2018, Sony producer Amy Pascal was hesitant to say that the movie had any connections to Peter Parker, only noting that it was an “adjunct” to the main franchise. However, a lot has changed in the last few months. Sony and Marvel Studios renegotiated their deals for the future of Spider-Man, and it looks like heavily hinting to the MCU was a part of the new deal.
Morbius is currently going through reshoots in Los Angeles and some set images have leaked. An ad for the Daily Bugle was spotted on a bus, revealing that Spider-Man is missing and that Cletus Kasady is on the loose. This ties Venom 2, which stars Woody Harrelson as Kasady, and the Jared Leto-starring Morbius to the conclusion of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Peter Parker’s secret identity is no longer a secret and he’s probably going to be in hiding after Mysterio framed him.
These leaked Morbius set photos have been embraced by Sony, who used a Daily Bugle story titled Where is Spider-Man?, in an Instagram story for their Flash Thompson account, which was used to promote Spider-Man: Far From Home. The fictional character reminisces about the days when the city wasn’t being “destroyed by vampires, aliens and flying robot people.” This is a pretty smart move on behalf of the studio. Even the little teases have gone a long way in raising excitement for Morbius.
The Morbius trailer takes things a few steps further by bringing back Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, aka, The Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. There’s even an image of Spider-Man shown in the trailer. Sony has not been shy about the fact that they’re aiming to bring Peter Parker face to face within the Venom franchise. Apparently, that’s the ultimate goal, which means that Morbius can’t be too far off. With the MCU connection teases, fans are starting to get intrigued with what could happen for Tom Holland’s character in the future, especially since things are looking like they could get pretty dark for the beloved superhero.
For now, Peter Parker is in hiding and won’t be out until Spider-Man 3 hits theaters in 2021. Morbius and Venom 2 will hit open in theaters before that, so it seems unlikely that we’ll see Holland in any of those movies, though that could change. It has been heavily rumored that Tom Holland will have a cameo in Venom 2. However, it should be noted that the same rumors were floating around the time of the first installment and Holland was nowhere to be found when all was said and done. You can head over to Sony’s Spidey No1 Fan Instagram to see the Flash Thompson story, which is still up, as of this writing.
