Morbius end credits scene explained: What [SPOILER]’s arrival really means

Spoilers for Morbius follow.

In 2020, the teaser trailer for Morbius delivered an unexpected twist: Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes — who made his live-action debut in the MCU-set Spider-Man: Homecoming — made an appearance in its last few seconds. This sent fans into overdrive, as they tried to figure out how (what looked like) an MCU character had made their way into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Well, we now have answer.

Morbius is finally here, and the secret to Vulture’s role has been unveiled. Now, the backstory of his return is not necessarily a secret, given that Morbius director Daniel Espinosa himself let the cat out of the proverbial bag during an interview with CinemaBlend.

Nevertheless, let’s break down exactly how the winged baddie made his presence felt in Venom’s nascent world.

How the Vulture returns

Michael Keaton was heavily featured in the Morbius trailers, making it look like he would be a relatively significant part of the movie. That, however, did not end up being the case. Keaton does make an appearance, but it seems his role was restructured, given that he didn’t pop up until the end-credits and post-credits scenes.

The former opens with the multiversal portal that was opened by Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home. After that, we cut to a jail cell, where Toomes appears in a flash of light (the same one that characters like Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men and their many villains were enveloped by when they were sent back to their respective realities). Just as Daniel Espinosa confirmed to CinemaBlend, this snippet clears it up: This Vulture is the one that was introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Toomes cracks a joke about hoping the food in this new prison is better than his original one. The film then cuts to a news report stating that people were baffled after the baddie appeared out of nowhere. Seeing how he has no criminal record in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, it’s hinted that he will likely be set free. The scene ends there.

A few seconds later, the post-credits sequence kicks off. We see Michael Morbius driving down a deserted road. He stops in front of a decaying fence and checks his watch to see how much time he has left before his next blood binge. Suddenly, he sees a light in the distance approaching — it’s the Vulture, in an armor reminiscent of the one he wore in the MCU with a few key differences. His different appearance may throw some viewers off, but as Daniel Espinosa told CinemaBlend about Toomes:

"“If you look closely, you will see it is not quite the same suit as Homecoming. He is a resourceful guy.”"

He lands in front of Michael and thanks him for agreeing to meet him. Toomes then states that, while he’s unsure of how he got to that new universe, he’s sure that Spider-Man had something to do with it. (Interestingly, his mention of Spider-Man doesn’t seem to faze Morbius in the slightest, possibly hinting at the Living Vampire already being aware of the Wall-Crawler’s existence).

Adrian doesn’t linger on that mystery long, though, as he tells Morbius that he’s putting together a team of people with abilities, and wants the Living Vampire to be part of it. Morbius states the offer intrigues him before the scene cuts to black.

How Vulture’s role changed in Morbius

Recently, rumors claimed that Keaton’s Toomes had been largely cut from Morbius, and had his role turned into post-credits teases. Now, we know this to be true — partially, at least. While Vulture’s original role in Morbius is a mystery for the most part, the snippets of footage and dialogue from him in the film’s trailers (such as the line, “Michael Morbius. You’ve been given a gift. […] Time to let go of what you used to be. Discover who you’re meant to be”) lead us to believe he was indeed going to be a supporting character of sorts, lending credibility to the aforementioned rumors.

Considering those factors, it’s possible the portal that moved Toomes from the MCU into Sony’s world was originally supposed to appear earlier in the film. Of course, another alternative is that Toomes’ final role was simply a result of the movie being restructured. There are many reasons for that potentially happening, so we’re not going to speculate about the matter with the little information that’s currently available regarding Morbius‘ development.

Either way, given the evidence discussed above, we can assume Toomes did indeed have a much larger part to play in the Living Vampire’s solo adventure at some point.

What does this mean for the Sinister Six?

Sony has been building toward a Sinister Six film for quite some time. The project has failed to materialize throughout the years, but this post-credits scene appears to indicate that the studio’s plan is finally — and slowly — coming to fruition. At the moment, it’s still difficult to decipher why Adrian Toomes is interested in Michael Morbius, and why the vampire — who throughout his movie is portrayed as a kind-hearted individual — would even consider joining the baddie’s crusade.

Regardless, the stage is being set for a massive villain crossover, and luckily, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait long to figure out exactly how Sony plans to bring the Sinister Six (or whatever iteration it may end up being) to life. The next installment in the studio’s arachnid universe, Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is slated to come out in theaters on January 13, 2023.

Morbius is currently in theaters.

What do you think about Vulture’s role in Morbius? Where do you think his recruiting of Michael Morbius will go? Let us know in the comments!