Michael Keaton Says Even Sony Couldn’t Explain The Vulture Cameo In ‘Morbius’

Following the spectacular box-office failure of “Madame Web,” a film that was a punchline twice at the Oscars last night, Sony’s Spider-Man universe continues to be ridiculed in the media outside the Marvel-produced films with Tom Holland and the successful ‘Spider-Verse’ movies. “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto, was another dud at the box office. In a recent Happy Sad Confused interview with Michael Keaton—who briefly appears in the film as the Vulture from “Spider-Man: Homecoming”—the actor suggested his scene didn’t make much sense to him. Worse, no one at Sony or involved with “Morbius” could explain it well either.

Keaton appears in a post-credit scene with Leto’s Morbius, seemingly setting up some foundational groundwork for The Sinister Six—the villain’s super-team-up group that fights against Spider-Man.

READ MORE: ‘Madame Web’: Dakota Johnson Talks Brutal Backlash & Is “Heartbroken” How Streamers Don’t Support Creatives

When asked if he knew what the cameo was or what it was leading to, Keaton responded bluntly, “No.” “No idea. None, zero. Then they said okay, and even they couldn’t quite explain it. [I was like], ‘I really don’t quite know what you’re talking about or [who] some of these people are,’” Keatons said in a conversation with the film’s director, Daniel Espinosa. “And [the director] said, ‘Okay, let me explain.’ But it was complicated because they were, obviously, looking down the road.”

Keaton said they tried to explain the plan going forward, and eventually, he just went for it. “And I go, ‘Okay, I’m in. Let’s try it.’”

Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering, Keaton is still slightly open to reprising the Batman role again after briefly reprising the Tim Burton-era character in Warner Bros.’ “The Flash.”

“I don’t think about it much, but never say never,” he said. Given the hard reset of DC by DC Studios and James Gunn, two Batman movies on the horizon, the erasure of “Batgirl” by Warner Bros. Discovery, and the wonky reception of “The Flash,” the likelihood of any more Batman appearances by Keaton seems non-existent, frankly.

While there might have been plans for a “Morbius” sequel, the film’s weak box office and poor reception likely means Sony will pretend like it never happened unless Sony and the Spider-Man producing team led by Amy Pascal and Avi Arad eventually find a way to plug in Morbius in some other Spidey project down the line. Watch the full interview below.