Why Is Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Poster In Morbius Trailer?

Just why was Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man spotted in the Morbius trailer?

by Andrew Pollard
Morbius Spider-Man Tobey Maguire
Sony Pictures

With the cat now well and truly out of the bag that July 31st’s Morbius will exist within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s now an update on the finer details of this Jared Leto-starrer.

According to DR Movie News, Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture, won’t be the only Spider-Man character to appear in Morbius. The outlet reports that J.K. Simmons will be back in the saddle as J. Jonah Jameson – a role Simmons reprised during the credits of last year’s Spider-Man: Far From Home – and that ol’ Web-head himself would have a presence in the movie.

Now, it appears as if Tom Holland’s Spidey won’t directly be making a physical appearance in Morbius, but instead we’ll get to see a New York City that is decked out in posters clamouring for Spider-Man to be brought to justice – as glimpsed briefly by a “Murderer” poster in the Morbius trailer.

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Taking place after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home in which the Wall-crawler’s secret identity was revealed to the public, an interesting element of this recent development is that the events of the greater MCU will directly affect Sony’s Spider-Verse of movies, but the events of Sony’s Spider-Verse won’t directly affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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As for why the Spider-Man poster seen in this first Morbius trailer appears to be the Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man, that may likely be down to Sony and its Columbia division solely owning the rights to Maguire’s Spidey.

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Sony has had cinematic control over Spider-Man for well over two decades by this point. And while they have essentially lent the character to Disney in order for him to be included in the MCU, Sony only have full control over the movies produced by themselves – which Morbius is, and which Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was. In turn, that would likely explain why it was Maguire’s Web-head who was plastered on NYC streets.

Regardless, not only does this all get anticipation amped up for Morbius, but it also offers up a whole host of possibilities for future films involving Spider-Man and his supporting cast of heroes and villains.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.