After being delayed nearly two full years from its original release date, Morbius has finally made its theatrical debut.
Early reviews for the film have been overwhelmingly negative up to this point, but that doesn’t mean Sony’s latest superhero franchise is already dead in the water. The studio makes it clear in Morbius’ final act that it has big plans in mind for Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius, and the film concludes in a way that suggests he’ll be a major figure in the studio’s Spider-Man Cinematic Universe moving forward.
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Whether or not those plans will change in the wake of Morbius’ less-than-stellar critical response remains to be seen, but the film itself doesn’t offer anything to indicate that Leto’s time as Marvel’s Living Vampire will come to an end anytime soon. In fact, the new superhero flick wraps up its story with Michael Morbius at the literal height of his powers.
Major spoilers ahead for Morbius.
Morbius ending, explained
Morbius ends with a series of confrontations. First, Matt Smith’s Milo unleashes a violent, fatal attack on his lifelong mentor and father figure, Dr. Emil Nicholas (Jared Harris). That act leads Leto’s Michael to go to Milo’s apartment, where he shares one final moment with Harris’ Emil. However, Michael abruptly pulls away from that scene when he hears Milo threatening Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) somewhere else in the city.
In response, Michael races across New York only to come upon a dying Martine on a deserted rooftop. After biting Michael’s lip and licking up some of his blood (yes, really), Martine begs him to drink her blood in order to “make it count.” Michael obliges her, seemingly murdering Martine before engaging in a climactic battle with Milo, his former best friend-turned-enemy.
Their fight concludes with Michael murdering Milo by stabbing him in the chest with a lethal dosage of a homebrewed scientific compound. Michael chooses not to use the second dose of the compound on himself though, despite telling Martine earlier in the film he was going to do that very thing.
Instead, he takes to the sky with the army of bats he summoned during his fight with Milo, and Morbius subsequently ends with a close-up shot of Michael’s vampire face as he soars over New York City.
What does the Morbius ending mean?
During Michael’s final flight, Morbius cuts very briefly to a shot of Adria Arjona’s Martine. Still lying on the rooftop where Michael left her, the film shows Martine’s eyes quickly open to reveal her irises turning red. While it remains to be seen where exactly Martine will go next, her red eyes and apparent resurrection seem to suggest that her small consumption of Michael’s blood has resulted in her being reborn as a vampire.
If so, the moment not only sets up Martine’s return in a possible Morbius sequel but also works as a callback to an observation made earlier in the film. Specifically, Martine’s transformation connects back to the moment when Al Madrigal’s Alberto Rodriguez notes upon seeing security footage of Matt Smith’s Milo murdering an innocent civilian that vampires have a habit of “multiplying.”
As for Leto’s Michael, the film seems to more or less forget about the vow he makes at the end of its second act to finish himself off with Milo. Instead, Morbius concludes with Michael seemingly embracing his vampire self, not only by reverting to his transformed physical state but also by flying alongside an army of the very animals he believes now see him as a “brother.”
Will there be a Morbius sequel?
Morbius’ conclusion explicitly sets up a big-screen future for its titular character, and the movie’s post-credits scenes even go so far as to set up a role for him in a future Sinister Six film.
That means Sony may very well decide to charge forward with its plans for the Spider-Man villain even in spite of the conversation that’s currently surrounding Morbius. The studio will likely also consider how the film fares at the box office. Even if it isn’t a critical success, it could be a financial one — and usually, that’s more than enough reason to greenlight a sequel.
Only time will tell if we’ll see Morbius again.
Morbius is playing in theaters now.
