Which cinematic universe does Morbius take place in?

That question has been on the minds of comic book fans ever since the first trailer for Morbius was released in January 2020 and included unexpected references to both Sony’s Venom films and the studio’s Marvel Cinematic Universe-set Spider-Man trilogy. Unfortunately, despite the film’s theatrical release being just around the corner, fans still have yet to find the answers to their questions about Morbius’ franchise connections.

With only a handful of days remaining until the film hits theaters in the U.S., a new Morbius leak has landed on the internet. If this is true, the leak suggests that several of the Spider-Man Easter eggs featured in the Morbius trailers were included for no other reason than to create discussions online.

The Leak — Twitter user @Tom_Smith717 claims to have seen Morbius early and tweeted recently that several of the major moments from its trailers are not in the finished cut. For instance, Smith claims that the shot of Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius walking past a piece of Spider-Man art (see below) is not in the film. The same apparently goes for the shots of The Daily Bugle and Michael Keaton that fans spotted in previous Morbius trailers.

Smith also claims that, while Michael Keaton does appear in Morbius, his scene isn’t the same one that has been repeatedly teased. Smith’s tweets were backed up by That Hashtag Show’s Nick Santos, who responded to one user’s question by confirming that the Spider-Man and Daily Bugle moments in the Morbius teasers are nothing more than “trailer bait.” Other sources report that Keaton has been relegated to a quick post-credits scene.

But as always, make sure to take these claims with a grain of salt for now.

Morbius’ Marvel Easter eggs — Until Morbius is actually released in theaters, there’s no way of knowing what MCU and Spider-Man Easter eggs it does or doesn’t contain. That said, this leak suggests that fans going into Morbius hoping to be surprised by its franchise connections should probably prepare themselves for disappointment.

Beyond that, this leak raises some troubling questions about both Morbius itself and Sony’s handling of it. If the movie doesn’t really have the Easter eggs that are in its trailers, that suggests the Morbius filmmakers are even more confused about its place within Sony’s various Spider-Man franchises than fans had already begun to suspect.

The Inverse Analysis — It’s worth noting that a number of recent blockbusters have shown moments in their trailers that didn’t ultimately end up in the finished versions. In that sense, the absence of any Spider-Man Easter eggs in the theatrical cut of Morbius would just make the film the latest in a growing trend.

However, many fans have spent years speculating about Morbius’ possible ties to Sony’s Spider-Man and Venom franchises, and they’ve often looked to its trailers for some kind of clarity. This leak suggests that fans may end up leaving Morbius just as confused about its place within Sony’s superhero universes as they were before they saw it.

Morbius will hit theaters on April 1, 2022.