The recent trailer for Morbius may tease several Marvel villains in Sony's Spider-Man universe. At the 2:01 mark in the new look, Dr. Michael Morbius (played by Jared Leto) is reading a Daily Bugle newspaper that focuses on him being accused of committing "vampire murder."
However, eagle-eyed fans will notice several headers that reference two other Spidey villains: Rhino and Black Cat. And while these could just be Easter eggs, they could also tease their future appearance in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Who Is Rhino in Marvel?
Aleksei Sytsevich; aka Rhino, is a Russian mob enforcer who undergoes a series of experiments and treatments with the promise of wealth and power. The experiments give him superhuman strength but permanently fuse the powerful armor he is given (which is modeled after a Rhino) onto his skin. Rhino is one of Spider-Man's most formidable foes, but thanks to his low intelligence and low mobility, the wall-crawler always gets the upper hand.
The character's only onscreen appearance came in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where he was played by Paul Giamatti, with this iteration having a Rhino-shaped robotic suit of armor rather than the fused armor of his comic book counterpart. Since the cancellation of The Amazing Spider-Man 3, future plans for the usage of Rhino have been silent. It was rumored that Giamatti may return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but recent reports suggest that may not be the case.
Who Is Marvel's Black Cat?
While her father was a cat burglar, Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, took that term to a whole new level by becoming a cat-themed thief and villain-turned-antihero. After amassing a fortune through a life of crime, Hardy decides to take on a masked persona in order to free her father from prison. On that same night, she meets Spider-Man and feels a kinship with the hero, eventually falling in love with him over time. In the comics, the two have a complicated relationship and even date briefly.
Like with Rhino, Felicia Hardy made her on-screen debut in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, portrayed by Felicity Jones. This iteration cannot be further from the comics, however, as she never appears as the Black Cat persona, instead being shown as a high-level employee for Oscorp. In 2017, it was reported that Sony was developing a film based on Silver Sable and Black Cat titled Silver & Black. And while the film seemed to be stuck in development hell for the last few years, a recent report suggests that the project may be back in development at Sony, with Felicity Jones set to reprise her role.
How Rhino and Black Cat Will Factor Into Morbius
While the references to the characters in Morbius may just be an Easter Egg, for now, it could be a tease of future characters that will appear in Sony-produced Marvel films. Black Cat and Rhino are major parts of Spider-Man's rogue's gallery and mythos, and both have been featured in previous Spider-Man films, as well as other media, such as the Spider-Man games by Insomniac and Sony. There is clearly still interest from writers to tell a story with those characters, and with Sony doing increasingly more solo villains featuring villains, including Kraven the Hunter, these references could very well be hinting at something major.
To see if Black Cat and Rhino are more than an Easter Egg, Morbius arrives in theaters Jan. 28, 2022.