Pokemon Was an Inspiration for This Upcoming Marvel Film

Daniel Espinosa, who has helmed the upcoming Sony’s Spider-Man universe film, Morbius has now revealed that, interestingly, he used the world of Pokémon as an inspiration for his Marvel film based in the Sony Universe. The movie has already undergone various delays in its release date since 2020 and stars Suicide Squad star Jared Leto as Morbius, who originally made his debut as a Spidey villain in the pages of the Marvel comics. The film will be the third in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, after Venom (2018), followed by its sequel in 2021, Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Morbius: The Plot

Morbius is a story about Dr. Michael Morbius, who is an excellently brilliant scientist, but, with a blood disease that is very rare. While looking for a possible cure, he comes across one that looks like it has worked successfully initially, but gradually it overtakes him, turning him into a vampire. This also forces Michael to maintain a balance and the changes within himself – and to eventually use his newfound powers and abilities for good, while also fulfilling his thirst for blood. Alongside Jared Leto, the film stars Tyrese Gibson as FBI agent Simon Stroud, Jared Harris as Nicholas, who is Morbius’ mentor, and Matt Smith as Milo, who is Morbius’ friend.

What director Espinosa revealed:

While appearing in an interview with IGN, director Espinosa revealed that a few of the visual effects used in Morbius’ abilities were an inspiration from the world of Pokémon. He went to state that the credit for this goes to his six-year-old daughter, who has really been into Nintendo’s beloved Pokémon franchise recently, and he only noticed how its colors and lighting add to the overall tone and atmosphere.

Here is his full statement below:

“I have a daughter who is six years old, and she was really getting into Pokémon,” he explained. “And you know, I’ve watched Pokémon over the years. But I really adore how they use light and colors to express those powers. When you watch Morbius he always has this trail of purple in the comic books and that normally is just lines that are made with a pencil. But I thought maybe if we can take that kind of Pokémon-esque idea and translate that over to the psychedelic experience, I could create a new version of how to express powers.”

Morbius Trailers Have Enough Easter Eggs

There’s been enough debate around Morbius, as it happens to take place in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, which has many fans wondering whether Morbius will ever fight any version of Spider-Man. The trailers for Morbius does insinuate this, as they come full of Easter eggs that pay homage to not only the MCU (with Michael Keaton’s Vulture) but also Andrew Garfield’s universe (with a shot showing an Oscorp building which looks the same as shown in The Amazing Spider-Man movies).

The trailers also have references to Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies, as we see a Daily Bugle newspaper in which we what looks like Maguire’s version of Spider-Man spray-painted on a wall as Morbius is seen walking past it. So, what universe Morbius is actually in is up in the air; and maybe the events of No Way Home or the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will somehow add to it.

However, Espinosa’s confession that he went on to use Pokémon as an inspiration for his film should certainly perk up both Pokémon and Marvel fans’ ears. As history reveals, whenever a film takes inspiration from something unexpected, the result is quite fascinating. For instance, the recently released The Batman by Matt Reeves was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films and some films from the New Hollywood era.

Now as for Leto’s Morbius, many fans are now hoping that this will be fulfilling their desire for a good Spider-Man movie, without the web-slinger in it.