The first trailer for Morbius revealed that the Sony production is tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will take place the furthest in the future of any project. The solo film, starring Jared Leto as Morbius the Living Vampire, surprised audiences in a big way with the start of its marketing campaign. Not only did the first Morbius trailer include references to Spider-Man being a murderer, but Michael Keaton’s Vulture made a cameo at the very end, removing any doubt over Morbius’ ties to the MCU.

Over the last year, the MCU has gone through some significant changes, the biggest of which came in the opening of Avengers: Endgame. After the heroes killed Thanos and were left without the Infinity Stones, Endgame jumped five years into the future. This moved the present day of the MCU up to 2023, as these events came directly after 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel Studios didn’t stop there with pushing the MCU further into the future either, as Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place in 2024 - the summer after Endgame. Tom Holland’s second solo outing ended with Spider-Man being framed for the murder of Mysterio and many civilians, while also having his secret identity revealed to the public.

Even though Morbius’ trailer features a strange mistake by using Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man suit instead of the MCU’s, the intention is clear that it is supposed to be the latter based on “murderer” being graffitied over it. This detail confirms that some events of Morbius take place sometime after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which places it in 2024. Surprisingly, this makes Morbius the movie that will explore the furthest into the MCU’s future when it is released in late July.

With Morbius exploring the future of the MCU, it will be fascinating to see how much freedom it has, what references are made, and how much time it spends in this era. The trailer for the film already featured flashbacks to Morbius as a child, so we know that it won’t just be showing a post-Endgame world. There is also a distinct possibility that Morbius’ chase to cure himself will take over the course of many years, meaning Morbius may also provide viewers with a look at the world during the five-year time jump. These variables could see the movie reference events as far back as Phase 1 as well as give us insight into what the MCU looked like after Thanos’ snap.

Regardless of whether this view into the MCU’s future was planned from the start or not, Morbius is now the lone 2020 movie that will push the universe’s story forward. Black Widow may be the first Marvel Studios production of the year, but it will predominantly be set in the past. Meanwhile, The Eternals won’t arrive until November and is going to span thousands of years to tell its story. If either of these films touches a post-Endgame landscape, it may only be near the very end or in a post-credits sequence. And even though Disney+ shows like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and WandaVision will be set closer to the 2024 present-day, Morbius looks to be the one that goes the furthest.

MORE: Spider-Man Breaks The MCU Timeline (Again) In Far From Home

  • Black Widow Release Date: 2021-07-09 Morbius Release Date: 2022-04-01 The Eternals Release Date: 2021-11-05 Shang Chi Release Date: 2021-09-03 Doctor Strange 2 Release Date: 2022-05-06 Thor: Love and Thunder Release Date: 2022-07-08 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Release Date: 2022-11-11