The 9 Morbius Easter Eggs that You Missed
- Eve Andrews
- Apr 11, 2022
- 5 min read
So, the reaction to Morbius has been pretty lukewarm and that’s putting it kindly (I mean, hey, I liked it, personally. But y’know how it is). So to suck out some positivity for all the disappointed fans out there, we thought we’d compile together a list of some of the most missable yet interesting easter eggs that cropped up in the SSU’s latest offering.
1) Opening Credits - a Nod to the Classic Morbius Get-up!
You may have noticed the blue and pink V-shaped graphics that appeared right off the bat in the opening credits. Pretty cool, huh? But these colours weren’t just chosen because they looked pretty. These graphics are a clever little nod to the palette and font seen on the cover art of the Morbius solo comic series, first published in 1992. And not only that, the V-shape was deliberate too, invoking the shape of Morbious’ iconic Dracula-esque collar that his original comic book counterpart was often seen sporting. A neat little nostalgia hit for those who came in a prior fan of Spidey’s vampiric villain.
2) Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters
Remember when kid Morbius fixed that complex piece of medical equipment using a ballpoint pen? Crazy. Well, the scene that followed contains a blatant reference to Professor Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, an institution that trains the mutants of the X-Men. This occurs when Emil Nikols offers the young Micheal Morbius the possibility of a place in a school for gifted children in New York. Pretty bold on Sony’s part seeing as, as far as we know, they don't have any rights to the X-Men franchise.
3) One for the Whovians
If anything about this movie has received some critical praise, it's Matt Smith’s performance as Loxias Crown, a character known affectionately to Morbius as Milo. His previous role as the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who is arguably what skyrocketed Matt Smith into A-List status, and it remains one of his most iconic roles to date. And I guess the director just couldn’t resist making a few references. In Milo’s first scene, try taking a peek at the clocks in the background. When the younger Milo first appears, the clock can be seen approaching 11. Later in the film, when we first meet the adult Milo, now played by Matt Smith, the clock in the background is striking 11. But it doesn’t stop there! Even later, when Emil Nikols asks Milo to rate his pain out of 10, Milo responds with “11”. Whether it was the director or the scriptwriter, to whoever worked these in: we don’t blame you. We probably would have found it irresistible too.
4) Kraven? That you?
This one is easy to miss but pretty cool once you get wind of it. In the movie's early stages, Emil Nikols mentions to Milo that he recently happened upon “a certain Russian gentleman”, one that prompted him to hire a team of bodyguards. Now, I know there’s more than one Russian character in the vast pages of Marvel’s comic book catalogue. But, given that Sony is currently working on an upcoming Kraven movie, I’d wager that this was a little bit of a subtle setup. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get a more definitive answer on that when the Kraven movie arrives.
5) Horizon Labs
This one is perhaps the most obvious on our list but it's still a cool little comic book nugget. Fans of the Spider-Man comics may have noticed Morbius’ place of work, where he researches his outlandish methods of curing his condition; Horizon Labs. This isn’t a name just made up for the movie, though. Horizon Labs has a decade long history in the Marvel Comics universe, particularly in the Spider-Man comics. It's a facility where gifted scientists can explore the latest, cutting edge research without being under bureaucratic restraint. It's been the research HQ for several Spider-Man villains, Dr Micheal Morbius among them. But it hasn’t just been a haven for supervillains; even Peter Parker himself worked there at one point! Who knows, maybe he and the Doc bumped into each other at one point?
6) Hommage to Nosferatu
You know an experiment is sketchy when you have to carry it out in international waters just to keep the cops from catching you in the act. Weird human experimentation aside, though, did you notice the name of the boat? It was called the Murnau, a tribute to none other than F.W. Murnau. F.W. Murnau was the director of the first-ever cinematic vampire movie, 1922’s Nosferatu. Funnily enough, the events that occurred on Morbius’ boat aren’t dissimilar to the origins laid by the original Murnau in the Nosferatu movie. A great little reference for all the film buffs out there!
7) The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?
Director, Daniel Espinosa, has expressed his love for The Matrix movies on numerous occasions. As such, it wasn’t surprising to see some very direct nods toward the famous action trilogy in Morbius. The most notable is Espinosa’s constant referencing of the iconic ‘red pill, blue pill’ scene, reflected in the red and blue blood between which Morbius is continuously faced with the agonising choice - “do I drink the red? Or the blue?” Or words to that effect, with the blue signifying restraint and control, while the red is evocative of primality and awakening. This is also reflected in the changing of Morbius’ eye colour: blue when in control, red when tapping into his blood-sucking, thug-killing, primitive vampire self. Another cool nod for the film lovers.
8) Morbius gets Hangry
Being hangry sucks. And if general lore is anything to go by, we know that if you happen to be a vampire, it sucks even more. So we can’t really blame Dr Morbius for getting a little cranky when he finds himself stuck in prison with no access to his newfound favourite tipple. It's in this first prison scene that Morbius says the line, “you wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry”. This is a direct reference to a scene in the live-action Incredible Hulk TV series, which first aired in 1977. After Bill Bixby, as Dr David Bruce Banner, utters the line “you won’t like me I’m angry”, it inadvertently became the character's catchphrase - basically the 70s version of a meme. No surprise then that the line popped into Dr Micheal’s head when he started feeling a bit hangry. We all know the feeling.
9) A Basilisk in the Subway
This one is subtle; blink, and you’ve missed it. When Morbius and Milo get into that Matrix-style punch-up down in the subway, keep an eye on the posters in the background. At one point, Morbius runs past a poster that says ‘BASILISK’. This is a really good one for the fans of the original Morbius comics, with Basilisk being one of the fan-favourite villains in the 90s Morbius solo series. Could this be a hint at a potential future villain for the Morbius movie-verse? Debatable given the critical reception of the first instalment, but who knows?
Controversial opinion: I enjoyed Morbius more than The Batman (I’m sorry! Don’t come for me). What are your thoughts? Have you seen it? If so, what did you think? And did you spot any easter eggs that we didn’t? So much to talk about! Let us know your take in the comment section below.
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