Morbius' Confusing X-Men Easter Egg Breaks Marvel's Multiverse
Morbius is established in Sony's Spider-Man Universe and connected to MCU's multiverse. But a brief mention of a school hints at an X-Men connection.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Morbius.
Sony's third Spiderverse movie, Morbius suggests that Marvel's X-Men exist in the same Spider-Man universe as Jared Leto's living vampire. one Easter egg in Morbius hints that the X-Men exist in the same universe as Morbius and Venom as well. Various Marvel characters have been spread out through multiple studios over the years, but they have recently started to connect with the MCU's introduction of the multiverse. Plenty of excitement has been built with the appearance of the X-Men’s formative founder, Professor X (Patrick Stewart) in the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Morbius’s subtle mention of the X-Men’s home base could add even more enthusiasm as well as a few questions.
Near the beginning of Morbius, Jared Harris’s Dr. Emil Nicholas mentions a “school for gifted children” in New York to a young Michael Morbius (Charlie Shotwell). Marvel aficionados likely understood the reference to be a nod to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngers, where the X-Men were founded. While this mention is rather subtle, Sony and Marvel Studios have been crossing over characters in a much more conspicuous fashion before the release of Morbius. Venom: Let There Be Carnage saw the MCU’s Spider-Man (Tom Holland) make a brief appearance in its end credits scene, and Spider-Man: No Way Home went all-in on bringing Sony’s past iterations of Spider-Man and his villains into its story. This makes sense since both studios have the rights to portray Spider-Man characters on screen. Yet only Marvel Studios owns the rights to the X-Men, so this “school for gifted children” in Morbius is a curious allusion.
The reality in which Morbius (Jared Leto) exists has been established to be separate from the MCU with the Vulture (Michael Keaton) only entering that world through the multiverse transferring him there. The MCU also avoids a direct connection to 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise by having Patrick Stewart’s Professor X seemingly appearing outside of all realities in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But with Morbius’s mention of the school for gifted children, there is reason to question which reality Morbius is in if the X-Men are there, too. There is of course the possibility that this is a different team of Marvel's mutants than Fox’s version, but it is still unclear if that uncertainty will ever be addressed. And on top of that, the apparent existence of the X-Men compromises Venom's quote in No Way Home's post-credits scene suggesting teams of supers don't exist in his universe:
"You're saying this whole place is, just, tons of super people. There was a billionaire, he had a tin suit, and he could fly. Right? And there was a really angry green man."
The existence of a school for gifted children in Morbius also begs the question of why the X-Men have been absent thus far. Similar to the MCU addressing the absence of the Eternals in their MCU film, there needs to be an explanation as to why superhuman characters exist in a world with extreme conflicts but have not appeared when help is needed, especially to the extent that Eddie Brock doesn't even know of their existence. Even if the team of X-Men were still teenagers in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, older characters like Professor X and Magneto would certainly have been helpful during times of crisis.
Perhaps the most pressing question after Morbius’s tease of the X-Men is if and how these uncanny characters will ever become something more than just a passing reference. As the Disney-owned Marvel Studios is the only studio to have the movie rights to the X-Men characters, the appearance of "mutants" in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is basically impossible. Hearing the mention of a school for gifted children perked the ears of some fans and amused many, but the probability that this will lead to anything more substantial is low.
With Sony and Marvel Studios already working together to tell the stories of Spider-Man and his plethora of supporting characters, Morbius (and Venom) acknowledging the multiverse introduced in the MCU to great success seems a no-brainer. While Sony is limited with what Marvel characters they can bring into their cinematic universe, subtle references here and there are the kind of thing audiences appreciate. Especially since there are no concrete plans for an MCU X-Men movie in the near future, these kinds of hints and nods are at least a considerate taste to tide fans over until the MCU gets to work on everyone’s favorite team of mutants.