The canceled plan to include Michael Keaton's Vulture in Morbius way better. New concept art from No Way Home recently revealed the Spider-Man: Homecoming villain would team up with Doc Ock and Sandman against Norman Osborn during the sequence in which the two-faced antagonist betrays Peter Parker and turns into the Green Goblin. Cutting the character from the superhero event film made his cameo in Morbius significantly more polarizing than it needed to be.
Morbius' confusing post-credit scene revealed that Vulture was transported to Sony's Spider-Man Universe after Doctor Strange's No Way Home's final spell. While the parameters surrounding this don't make sense, it also creates a problem for his potential MCU return because there would now have to be an explanation of how his commute to another universe even happened. Should Vulture have appeared in No Way Home, it could have prevented an opportunity for his Morbius appearance to turn out the way it eventually did.
No Way Home Could've Saved Keaton From Morbius
Both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Morbius changed their scripts following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the former movie needed to be released before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If Vulture had stayed in No Way Home's initial story, his transportation to another universe might likely have been executed better. Additionally, failing to acknowledge this is one contributing factor as to how Sony is risking Spider-Man's future post-No Way Home due to what seems to be a lack of planning.
The ending of Morbius created a mess for the SSU and the MCU now that Vulture randomly left the latter's timeline. Unfortunately, Morbius' troubled production and reshoots made that film worse, as Adrian Toomes' appearances in the trailers set up an exciting storyline. Keeping Vulture in No Way Home would have made sense, so Tom Holland's Spider-Man had a former antagonist to interact with alongside other villains from previous Spider-Man movie franchises. But it also could have been used as a setup for his role in Morbius and add weight to why he would team up with Morbius, a person he had no prior knowledge of, to fight Spider-Man.
What Vulture's Role In No Way Home Could've Been
While the MCU better explained No Way Home's ending spell, Sony still has some explaining to do due to the mess they created. For example, Vulture could have had a fascinating arc in the third Marvel Studios Spider-Man film, as the concept art showed. Phil Langone, a storyboard artist for Marvel, explained that the location for Green Goblin's betrayal changed multiple times, and different characters were initially featured in the sequence, including Keaton's Vulture. Because the artwork shows the Goblin webbed up and facing off against Vulture and other Spider-Man characters, it's possible that Toomes would have chosen to help Peter, given that the superhero saved his life after their final battle.
The Marvel movies could explain the Morbius plot hole, but No Way Home could have been utilized to help set up the Sinister Six in a spinoff project since Spider-Man: Homecoming first teased the villainous team-up. His appearance in Morbius would have at least been justified in explaining why Vulture suddenly wanted to form a team "and do some good." Being in Spider-Man: No Way Home would have been a great pay-off for Vulture's long-awaited cinematic return and could have saved Michael Keaton from his unfortunate involvement with Morbius.
