Although it may seem obvious, Morbius director Daniel Espinosa has made it clear that the universe his movie is set in has its own Spider-Man, and other Marvel heroes such as Iron Man. There has been a lot of speculation how Sony’s Universe of Spider-Man Characters will deal with Spider-Man himself, and although Espinosa didn’t explain the when or how Spider-Man may make an appearance in the world that seems to include Venom, Kraven The Hunter and the MCU’s Vulture, he has given a long and detailed explanation about exactly how Sony's universe works.

The trailer for Morbius seemed to establish the presence of Spider-Man in the movie, with a piece of art featuring the webbed-wonder appearing in the background of one scene with the word “murderer” scrawled over it in spray paint. It should be remembered that for a short time the MCU’s Spider-Man became a wanted man thanks to the lies of Mysterio, so the appearance of the poster in the Morbius trailer, which also featured Vulture, almost suggested that Morbius could be set within the MCU itself. However, Espinosa’s new comments in an interview with Cinema Blend suggest that Morbius is all set to feature a multiverse version of Spider-Man rather than one fans expect. He said:

“I mean, in almost all the Spider-Verse or, you know, the (universes) that existed in the Marvel universe, if you read the comic books, the whole idea of that kind of – the Marvel string theory, if you would call it that. It's very related to, if you remember, the alternative Seinfelds. You have a world where you have the same characters, and it's ALL of the characters, but they are slightly different. So in almost all verses, you have Spider-Man, or a Fantastic Four, or a Tony Stark, or a Morbius. But they will be different in tone. That's not quite the way that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (is) approaching the idea, but they're remaining to some core truth. Then you have the second kind of legend, which is about the totem. Which is that, in all universes, there is a spider totem. Which means that in all universes, there has to be a Spider-Man. Or a Spider-Woman.”

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Spider-Man’s Appearance in Sony’s Universe Has Been Teased Numerous Times

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Sony Pictures Releasing

Daniel Espinosa’s comments certainly don’t give away anything about which version of Spider-Man could at some time appear in Sony’s movies, but they are the most elaborate explanation that has been given so far. In previous interviews, both Tom Hardy and Jared Leto have hinted that at some point their respective characters of Venom and Morbius will face off against Spider-Man, with both actors also mentioning that they would love that actor to be Tom Holland.

Espinosa’s take on the world Morbius is set in, however, seems to more or less rule out the Spider-Man of that universe being Tom Holland’s version, which opens up the fan-favored belief that Andrew Garfield could finally get to return to the franchise on his own terms after having his time as Spider-Man cut short after his second The Amazing Spider-Man movie. All will no doubt be revealed in good time, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to be speculated about in the meantime.