Are the MORBIUS Post-Credit Scenes Really That Bad? YES – But in the Sony-verse maybe it does not matter | JUST STATING FACTS

I did not hate MORBIUS. And as such, I was prepared to write a blog that defended the MORBIUS post-credit scenes. I was prepared to do an entry of my ongoing series “HEAR ME OUT” series after listening to all the online negativity surrounding BOTH MORBIUS AND its post-credit scenes. But that was before I finally got a peek at those post-credit scenes on Saturday morning. And unfortunately I was pretty disappointed – and I don’t like post-credits scenes generally.

Now I am a fan of the Sonyverse (or Sony’s live-action Spider-Man AKA SLAS Universe) – including both VENOM films and both AMAZING SPIDER-MAN films and I kind of liked MORBIUS. AND you know, I am grudgingly ALSO as a fan of the MCU (thought most of the time it is in the same way I’m a fan of McDonalds or Krispy Kreme – that is to say passionately, but I know what it is I’m getting, the good and the bad).

What did I think of Morbius?

MORBIUS, as a film, feels like a less-inspired version of 2010’s JONAH HEX (mental note: I need to rewatch that and read more JONAH HEX comics). And by that I mean a genre film (in Hex’s case a Western, in Morbius’ case a vampire film) that has no desire to actually BE that film but just wants to do the bare minimum because they know they’re based on comics anyway and that the audience will buy tickets anyway (probably right judging by the decent box office this weekend) and go along with the story. The film was not really visually appealing, it felt narratively jumbled, and I felt like Jared Leto was holding back.

Nevertheless when directors endeavor to make this kind of film they inevitably make interesting things happen – sometimes because of the source material, sometimes because of the inherent budget, and sometimes because of the actors. And I think the interesting things in MORBIUS are some combination of all of the preceding three. The director takes what one might call a sometimes “light” approach to the material and at times that really lets MORBIUS breathe and rely on Leto’s performance more than plot (sometimes it feels like the plot drops away entirely). I think especially Morbius’ relationship to his childhood best friend turned fellow super-powered vampire Milo (a FANTASTIC Matt Smith) as well as Leto’s performance are all kind of interesting. And they are definitely things I will revisit on the DVD – even if I realize the film has flaws. It is not the “trying so hard you have to applaud” film that VENOM was or the “so crazy on every possible level you have to applaud” film that VENOM 2: LET THERE BE CARNAGE was – but it does manage to have some interesting hooks and moral quandaries, along with a quiet misanthropic performance from Leto who must bear the burden of superpowers that come at the expense of human life. With great powers comes great mortality – either the mortality of others or his own.

Still I wish the film was a little crazier. I mean how the HECK do you do MORBIUS and not even put some version of his cool ass costume from the comics in the film. I mean we are living in the age of comic accurate costumes – especially for Marvel. GAH! I mean you can practically hear Steven Tyler or Bret Michaels shrieking when you just look at these covers:

Matt Smith was pretty great though.

Anyway, now that MORBIUS has been out for the entirety of its opening weekend, I’m figuring it’s ok to discuss the post credits. Was it that bad? Yes. Moreover, the post-credit scene just… didn’t make any sense. It was cool and I could see why they would want to do what they did. But it just didn’t make any sense.

So what happens?

Well if you could judge by the featured image (and there is no way you could possibly guess everything that happens in this wacky post-credits just by the featured image, BUT if you somehow could–) you might guess that Adrian Toomes AKA THE VULTURE from the MCU is transported into the SLAS, the same universe that now houses Venom and Morbius (and probably next year we’ll see Kraven and Madame Web added to that roster). After somehow appearing in a jail cell (that just happens to be empty), he is released on his own recognizance after no record of his existence can be found (weird considering there are other Peter Parkers in this universe – wouldn’t there be other Adrian Toomes? More on that in a second). In a SECOND post credit scene, Toomes can be seen in his Vulture gear (arguably with a slight upgrade) in this new universe, and is now propositioning Morbius to team up and presumably go after Spider-Man.

And there has been a lot of talk around the internet asking, “are these post-credits really THAT bad?” And I am here to answer YES. But I am also here to give you my reasons why:

I know Adrian Toomes really hates MCU Peter Parker, but if he got blasted into another universe, wouldn’t he be first and foremost concerned about his family?

As someone who watched SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING 12 times in the theater, I can tell you, without a doubt, that Adrian Toomes loved his family. I think he hated Spider-Man but hated him SO MUCH MORE when he realized that he was dating his daughter, Liz Allen. It’s arguable that his entire black market Chitauri weapons operation was done for his family – to  – or at least that is the way he justified it to himself that way.

One thing, to me, is for sure, if Adrian one day woke up in a completely new universe he would, first and foremost, be concerned with his family, finding his family, trying to get back to his original universe for his family, etc…

Did the Chitauri attack the SLAS as well?

So Adrian Toomes in the MCU used Chitauri tech to craft his “Vulture” outfit and flight gear. But in the second post-credit scene, Toomes shows up in the same gear (with some slight, VERY slight, design tweaks), meaning that he either found this gear (so there was a Chitauri invasion in the SLAS (the Sony Live-Action Spider-Man Universe)? Or did he steal it from this universe’s version of Adrian Toomes (who managed to make it another way in this universe)?

So how did he get a hold of this gear? Is there an Adrian Toomes in this universe? There are multiple Parkers so are their multiple Toomes? And if there were multiple Toomes why didn’t that name trigger any investigations from the authotiries?

Now I get it – you’re saying “Ian Grimm – this is a post credit scene, do you expect them to go through all of that”? No. No I do not. But I also think this story deserved far more than a post-credit sequence to begin establishing the Sinister Six storyline in the Sonyverse.

Why does Adrian Toomes hate the Spider-Man of THIS universe?

I mean even in NO WAY HOME, the villains of the various respective universes were not immediately homicidal towards Peter Parker. They are confused, consumed by existential fear, and moreover unwilling to even believe their current situation – at least initially.

Now I think Adrian Toomes is, from a psychological standpoint, one of the most well realized villains in the MCU. We know his motivations for what he does, why he dislikes Spider-Man, and why he finally wants to destroy him (of which he warns him many, many times before actually attempting to do that).

Rather in the SLAS, the newly welcomed MCU Adrian Toomes bullies right past all of these emotions that villains in NOW WAY HOME experienced – and presumably straight to wanting to take out Spider-Man in this universe. It is a confusing jump, an inexplicable jump and I need to know why he hates this Spider-Man.

Speaking of which, we don’t even know who the Spider-Man is in this universe. Some have speculated that it is Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man. But that has not been confirmed. For all we know it could be a FOURTH version of a Sony Spider-Man. One thing we do know, Adrian Toomes already hates him and wants to team up with Morbius to go after that Spider-Man.

One thing is for sure, at some point this universe is going to need A Spider-Man.

Is Morbius a villain – or is Spider-Man a villain – in this universe??

Throughout MORBIUS and especially by its conclusion, the character Morbius has come to accept his powers and perhaps even see himself as a reluctant hero. In fact, some critics might argue that Morbius’ narrative arc was going from someone who thought he was a monster to someone who realized he could be a hero. 

So why the heck is Adrian Toomes, presumably in full villain Vulture mode, coming to Morbius to team up? Now hypothetically he didn’t watch the movie, like we the audience did, and therefore, just going off of the news stories about Doctor Michael Morbius, MD, presumes that he’s a psychopath and someone who can become an ally of his in trying to take down Spider-Man (and just blindly ignoring the last topic).

Why would Morbius go along with this? Makes even less sense.

MCU Continuity?

Honestly this is the criticism I have heard the most on twitter/reddit etc… But it is also the criticism of the film that concerns me the least. What ends up happening back in the MCU when Adrian Toomes goes missing? I presume this may be totally ignored and never be addressed or with everything happening next month in MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS maybe multiversal displacement becomes more common. Maybe Adrian Toomes magically is remembered as dead in the MCU? IDK there are a million ways to write this so that it does not screw with MCU continuity too badly. Also I would have to think that multiple convicts went “missing” before the snap and then never “reappeared” even though they were running around on earth.

Does This Even Matter?

The SLAS is all about the power of character – those batty (VENOM), misanthropic (MORBIUS) or hell bent on revenge (aka this universe’s Adrian Toomes). Hypothetically I could see a world where this Toomes wants to take out Spider-Man because he is causing all of this misery from putting him in jail to putting him in another universe. And if the SLAS takes a few beats and eventually gives us more than two scenes of a vengeful Toomes via Michael Keaton’s performance I will be there for it. But right now, it is undeniably, a little thin. Still hopefully at a later date, it will not matter.

In conclusion, setting up Adrian Toomes as a motivated villain in this NEW universe needed MORE than two post-credit scenes. At the least it needed a B-story in an entire film or even a six episode miniseries on Disney Plus or whatever streaming service that Sony chooses.