Sony recently reshuffled their release schedule for the summer months in a response to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, and the two biggest casualties were undoubtedly Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Morbius, both of which were moved back eight months from July to March of next year. This shows that Hollywood isn’t taking any chances and fully expects the crisis to last into the summer months, which are the most lucrative time of year from a box office perspective.
We were originally less than four months away from Morbius, which has generated a lot of buzz among Marvel fans, although a lot of it had to do with the Easter Eggs spotted in the first trailer rather than the quality of the footage itself. The shock appearance of Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes at the end of the promo both signaled that Sony’s universe takes place in the same timeline as the MCU, and also hinted that the studio are sowing the seeds for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to eventually face off against the Sinister Six.
When news of the schedule changes dropped, fans were quick to head online in their droves to voice their disappointment that they now have to wait almost a year to see Morbius, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
The Oscars when they have to find a different Best Picture winner because #Morbius was delayed pic.twitter.com/dgevr4Iner
— Scoob (@ScoobertOnFilm) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/UberKryptonian/status/1244802539989729281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244802539989729281&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2F2020%2F03%2F31%2Fmorbius-movie-delayed-fan-furious%2F
#Morbius delayed until March 2021… pic.twitter.com/lrFdGlRNgb
— Scoob (@ScoobertOnFilm) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/AmazingFanta_C/status/1244499267764584449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244499267764584449&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2F2020%2F03%2F31%2Fmorbius-movie-delayed-fan-furious%2F
https://twitter.com/SlingMeAWeb/status/1244790246681776128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244790246681776128&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2F2020%2F03%2F31%2Fmorbius-movie-delayed-fan-furious%2F
https://twitter.com/Jurrassic_punk/status/1244816632871915520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244816632871915520&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2F2020%2F03%2F31%2Fmorbius-movie-delayed-fan-furious%2F
Morbius delayed to 2021 pic.twitter.com/XSwDjxEs3s
— Nicholas Whitcomb (@Whos_Nick) March 31, 2020
Waiting on Morbius the Living Vampire like… pic.twitter.com/IltY6VUqML
— ROSS MAY (@rossmaywriter) March 31, 2020
*Sony moves #Morbius release date*
Me: pic.twitter.com/UKMOuJ2oQA
— Taylor (@TaylorTrueFacts) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/septithol/status/1244839271657279489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1244839271657279489&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmarvel%2F2020%2F03%2F31%2Fmorbius-movie-delayed-fan-furious%2F
Of course, the eight-month delay could also end up having a knock-on effect to the rest of Sony’s Marvel output, with Venom 2 already being rumored to get pushed back despite not being due until October. There will undoubtedly be some connective tissue between Morbius and the symbiotic sequel, and if that turns out to be the case, then Andy Serkis’ follow-up will be forced to have the release date changed in order to make sure that all of the pieces of the Sony puzzle continue to fit together in a logical fashion.