A few months ago, it seemed that having a theatrical release date was a thing again for big Hollywood releases. Today, however, Sony once again has delayed the release of Morbius due to the recent surge of Omicron COVID cases. The Jared Leto film has already been delayed several times, from an original release date of July 2020, through to January and October 2021, before seeming to settle on a January 28th, 2022 release. The date was featured on the most recent trailers for the movie, and it looked all set to arrive as expected at the end of this month, but in this ever-changing world, it seems that was not to be, and the movie will now come on April 1st instead.

While Spider-Man: No Way Home has performed as though the pandemic didn’t exist, bringing in 12% of the total box office takings of 2021 in just over two weeks on release, a new surge in Omicron cases has given Sony executives the jitters about releasing their latest Marvel-based movie right now. Although it could be argued that anything Marvel-related is currently going to ride on the wave of No Way Home, Morbius is not a returning MCU character and not a particularly well-known property outside of comic book reading circles. It seems that Sony has their doubts about how many will currently be willing to head out to see the character’s debut in cinemas.

Another consideration when it comes to the timing of the movie is that Spider-Man: No Way Home will still be in cinemas at the time Morbius was due to arrive, and with the latest film featuring Tom Holland’s web-slinging hero still dominating the box office, Sony may well want to let the beast run its course before pitting another superhero against him. As it stands now, Morbius will arrive on the big screen at the beginning of April, which gives it a one month window before the next MCU movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrives and is likely to be another competition crusher, with its promises of multiverse crossovers, cameos and character introductions already having the internet in a frenzy.

Unlike many of the upcoming MCU movies, Morbius is another brand new character on Sony’s side of the Marvel coin, telling the story of Michael Morbius, played by Leto in his Marvel debut, who is “dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil – or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?”

Along with Venom and the upcoming Kraven The Hunter movie, Morbius is currently separate from any Spider-Man iteration, even though the trailer did feature both an appearance by Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes AKA The Vulture and a poster featuring Spider-Man that seemed to tie the film into the MCU. Unfortunately, how all of that evolves in the plot is something fans will have to wait a few more months to discover.