The first trailer for Morbius arrived yesterday and the internet sort of exploded with the revelation of who was turning up in the movie. The final scene of the first look at Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man spinoff featured a surprise cameo from Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The short clip sees Morbius, presumably on the run from the law, passing Adrian Toomes in an alleyway. “Michael Morbius,” says Keaton’s familiar voice, before he’s revealed in the flesh. “Got tired of the whole good guy thing, huh? What’s up, Doc?”
This cameo is significant in so many ways, from confirming that Sony’s universe is one and the same as the MCU to potentially setting up the formation of the Sinister Six in a future movie. Here’s one you might have overlooked, though: it unites Batman and the Joker. Keaton, of course, played Batman for Tim Burton in 1989 and 1992 while Morbius star Jared Leto was the Clown Prince of Crime in Suicide Squad. It’s a DC crossover, but in a Marvel movie! And once fans picked up on this, they couldn’t stop tweeting about it.
That moment when you realize the #Morbius movie will have a Joker meeting Batman cameo in it. pic.twitter.com/UPneo311Wz
— It Was All a Dream, I Used to Read Wizard Magazine (@UpToTASK) January 13, 2020
For some people, it took a while for Two-Face’s penny to drop.
https://twitter.com/nebu11ar/status/1216834161878671362
Enemies reunited.
https://twitter.com/ChistianRoberts/status/1216804963353079808
It’s even funnier given Michael Morbius’ similarities to Batman.
https://twitter.com/CIown_Prince/status/1216820883358126080
An alternate reading of the plot of Morbius.
Thoughts on the #Morbius trailer:#Joker wanted to be #Batman so bad, that he became a bat…man!
And then Batman showed up at the end of the trailer! pic.twitter.com/pUDDuTxBam
— Savage Dragoon(Vtuber soonish) (@SavageDragoon_) January 13, 2020
We’re now living in Bizarro World, people!
https://twitter.com/gxxncxrlo/status/1216795843908390913
Breaking news: Morbius is secretly a DC movie.
https://twitter.com/TomVought/status/1216784918824382467
As a great man once (almost) said…
https://twitter.com/Shaggie_Tweets/status/1216812804239314944
Remember, Leto never actually came face to face with Ben Affleck’s Batman in the DCEU, but at least now he’s met the Dark Knight in the form of Keaton. Thanks for ticking that box, Morbius!
So finally joker met batman #Morbius pic.twitter.com/6Gy4Dsi5Qi
— Ashish Chanchlani (@ashchanchlani) January 14, 2020
Of course, Vulture might not be the only other iconic Spidey villain in the film, as fans are theorizing that Jared Harris is playing Doctor Octopus, too. We’ll find out the truth though when Morbius reaches cinemas on July 31st.