Sony's box office makes the movie a flop based on its $75 million production budget.

However, Sony seems to still have big plans for its Marvel properties. Set in the same universe as Venom, Morbius brought the "Living Vampire" to the big screen for the first time. Sony's Morbius serves as its antihero's origin story, with Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) turning into a superpowered vampire after attempting to cure the rare blood disease afflicting him. The storylines depicted in Morbius are closely aligned with the character's original Marvel Comics narrative. With post-credit scenes hinting at more, no Morbius 2 updates have said a sequel won't be added to the Morbius' negative reviews.

Morbius 2 Is Not Confirmed

Bad reviews and lackluster box office throws the prospect of Morbius 2 into doubt. Despite the contrast between Morbius' reception and other superhero blockbusters, though, there is ample reason to believe Morbius 2 could still happen given the MCU connections the first movie sets up.

While there has been no official word to date on Morbius 2 being green-lit, the character of Michael Morbius is destined to feature in some capacity again, given his ties to other MCU and Sony-Verse characters. Even if there is not a second movie, he could still pop up in other installments, such as the Kraven the Hunter movie, or even a Sinister Six film.

In an interview with Comicbookmovie.com, Jared Leto opened up a bit about being interested in wearing a more accurate Morbius costume for future installments. He said, "We talked about it, and decided for the first film it probably wasn’t gonna happen. There are some pretty great examples in the early comics and ideas of where we could go in the future if we suited up." Of course, this isn't confirmation that a sequel will indeed happen, but it showed that Sony was looking towards the future with this franchise at one point.

Morbius Found New Life On Streaming

The prospect of Morbius 2 hasn't received any updates after the release of the initial film. The first movie was re-released, hoping to play off the memes popping up after its initial failure, but it didn't do well on the second release either.

However, when Morbius dropped on Netflix, something surprising happened. The movie was a success for the streaming service. When it dropped, the movie quickly rose up the ranks of the streaming service's top 10 titles. While this isn't the box office money that Sony hoped for, there is hope that a better story might convince the studio to give the movie a second chance with a sequel.

Morbius is currently the second-lowest grossing movie in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, only beating out Madame Web.

Between September 5-11, Morbius was streamed on Netflix 6,971,428 times, earning it a Top 5 slot. This would have ed for over $66 million at the box office: a huge improvement. Actor Adria Arjona said she would return, wanting to know what her character chose — good or evil (via THR). While his character died, Matt Smith had a leveled response to the original, saying, "you just have to roll with it. What else are you gonna do? It’s a film, at the end of the day, we’re not saving lives. For whatever reason, it didn’t quite work out and… It is what it is" (via Rolling Stone).

Morbius 2 Cast: Who Could Return

The ending of Morbius sets up the return of several main characters for a potential sequel. Jared Leto would return as Michael Morbius for any iteration of Morbius 2, with the fallen doctor destined to be a far more bitter proposition following the deaths of his father figure Dr. Emil Nicholas (Jared Harris), and childhood friend Milo. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) also looks set to return for Morbius 2, after her character's new vampire physiology revives her from the dead in Morbius' final scene. In the Morbius comics, Martine becomes a villain, so that is a possibility.

With Morbius now a fugitive from the law, Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal could be back as the law enforcement officers chasing him. The post-credit scene also showed Michael Keaton return as The Vulture after he was time-displaced in Spider-Man: No Way Home's finale. He could be an ally or an enemy, depending on the direction Morbius goes as a character. Finally, this is the world where Venom lives, so Tom Hardy crossing over could always be in the cards.

How Morbius Sets Up A Sequel: What The Story Could Have Been

Morbius ends with Michael embracing his vampiric abilities and flying with his bat swarm proudly above New York City as Martine, unbeknownst to him, is revived by her new powers. The Morbius ending sets up a potential clash between the newly vampiric Martine and Morbius, much in the same way as the doctor is heartbreakingly forced to kill his childhood friend after Milo becomes afflicted with the vampiric curse, and embraced its darker nature. In the comics, Martine becomes a villain with the sole intention of convincing Michael to forgo all human traits and become a monster like her.

These Morbius post-credit scenes imply Michael Keaton may have a much darker future ahead of him in Morbius 2.

Morbius' two post-credits scenes, however, are the far greater clues for Morbius 2's plot setup, with The Vulture/Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) appearing in the Sony-Verse as a result of Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) No Way Home spell before offering Michael a chance to "do some good" alongside him. These Morbius post-credit scenes imply Michael may have a much darker future ahead of him in Morbius 2, with Sony possibly going ahead with the Sinister Six plans the studio has been sitting on since 2014.

How Morbius Could Still Return To Marvel's Cinematic Universe

If Sony goes through with ditching the plans for Morbius 2, there are still a couple of possibilities for how Jared Leto's villain could return. Of course, a Sinister Six film feels the most likely, but nothing has really been announced about that, throwing the entire thing into question. Another route Morbius could go is being introduced into the MCU through the multiverse. Sony has already shown a willingness to mingle with the MCU, including Morbius' post-credit scene, and even more significantly, Venom: Let There Be Carnage's post-credit scene.

Eddie Brock and Venom found themselves in the MCU at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, as a result of the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Their appearance was brief, however, spending their entire time at a bar before being brought back to their own universe, with Venom leaving a piece of the symbiote behind during the post-credits scene in No Way Home. Morbius could also make his way over in a similar way.

A project that Morbius could end up in is Avengers: Secret Wars, which looks to be the grand conclusion to the MCU's Multiverse Saga. Avengers: Secret Wars is likely bringing in a number of characters that aren't from the sacred timeline, meaning Morbius could in on the fight. Of course, it would be up to Marvel Studios to make that decision, and they haven't shown a willingness to include much of Sony's Spider-Man Universe in their own.

Why Are People Calling Madame Web Morbius 2?

Though many have described Madame Web as being Morbius 2, it's worth noting that there are no established ties between the plots of the two movies, short of them both having been made as part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Instead, the description of the movie serving as a sequel to Morbius is intended as a reflection of the negative reception both films have received. Indeed, Madame Web now has a lower critical score on Rotten Tomatoes than Morbius - with the first film getting 14%, and Morbius beating that mark by a slim margin at 15%.

Sony's Marvel Movie Release Dates

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  Venom: The Last Dance

  

  7/10

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  Kraven the Hunter

  

  5/10

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