A new Morbius teaser confirms Rhino and Black Cat exist in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The deal between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios has allowed Sony to build their own Spider-Man Universe, using characters whose rights are associated with the wall-crawler. So far, the focus has been upon Tom Hardy’s Venom, who’s starred in two blockbusters and seems to be preparing to face off against Tom Holland’s Spider-Man himself.

But Sony is now beginning to prepare for the next film in their franchise, Morbius, which stars Jared Leto as a scientist whose attempt to cure himself of a rare blood condition accidentally transforms him into a vampire. Morbius‘ delay pushed the film back to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Sony is beginning to market it again, and in preparation for a full trailer drop, the studio released an exciting Morbius video showing improved CGI and VFX. It also included an Easter egg confirming some other Spider-Man-associated characters exist in Morbius’ world.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

One shot in the Morbius featurette shows Michael Morbius looking at a newspaper headline that celebrates his capture for a “Vampire Murder.” The Daily Bugle is a mainstay of Spider-Man lore, and it’s already an established presence in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, as seen in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The banner at the top contains what seem to be two important stories, though; “RHINO ON THE LOOSE: ZOO HOAX FOOLS US ALL,” presumably nodding towards the classic Spider-Man villain called the Rhino, and “BLACK CAT: FRIEND OR FOE?” The latter, of course, is a reference to Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, a cat-burglar who became Spider-Man’s love-interest and has even fought alongside the Avengers on occasion.

Sony has long been interested in bringing Black Cat into their superhero universe, originally intending to make a team-up movie Silver & Black starring both Black Cat and Silver Sable to be written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Sony scrapped Silver & Black in 2018, reportedly to pursue separate projects for the characters, but there’s been no news since then. Still, the studio recently booked two mystery Marvel dates in 2023, for for June 23 and October 6, respectively. It’s possible the Black Cat Easter egg in the Morbius video is a hint there will be more news soon, perhaps with a live-action Black Cat swinging into a 2023 film slot. If so, Sony could potentially draw on comic books published since 2018, where writer Jed MacKay has strengthened Black Cat as a character and fleshed out her personal (Spider-Man-less) world a lot more.

While that may be the case, Sony does have a history of putting meaningless Easter eggs in the Daily Bugle. One shot in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which likewise featured in trailers, even confirmed the Avengers exist in Sony’s universe – and there’s no way Sony will ever acquire the film rights to feature the likes of Iron Man and Captain America in their movies. For now, then, viewers would be wise to consider the references to Rhino and Black Cat to be more Easter eggs, and wait for more news.

Key Release Dates
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  • Morbius (2022)Release date: Apr 01, 2022
  • Kraven the Hunter (2023)Release date: Jan 13, 2023
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Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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