The following contains spoilers for Morbius, now playing in theaters.
In Morbius, Jared Leto's Michael Morbius was a true genius. Not only did he work on curing his blood disease, but he also saved thousands of lives, especially kids, over decades as he garnered acclaim for his work. A lot of this reverence was attributed to an artificial blue blood, which helped soldiers in the field, such as Tyrese Gibson's Simon Stroud.
Granted, his research went astray, turning himself into a vampire and unleashing his buddy, Milo, as a bloodsucking monster, but Morbius did want to make a difference. It's why he killed Milo to make things right, finally understanding the dangers of playing god. Interestingly, though, by the time Morbius ended, key traits arose that could make the doctor an even better Tony Stark, should he return to the light.
Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man went from a solo hero in 2008 to an Iron Avenger, making a heartbreaking sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame to kill Thanos' forces and restore the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, a major aspect of the character was his mentorship of Peter Parker. Tony taught him about being a hero, using tech and research to help him become a better Spider-Man. In fact, a lot of Tony's legacy was about redemption, undoing his past as a lord of war and turning Stark Industries into something good. It's why he's inspired future heroes such as Ironheart because while he had his flaws, Iron Man was about healing the world with his company.
Morbius' titular character can follow a similar path, but in his case, he has a couple of extra things going for him. Firstly, he came off as more brilliant, evidenced early on when Morbius, as a kid, fixed a blood transfusion machine with a ball-point pen. Years later, he'd show off his MacGyver-esque skills after hijacking a money counterfeiting lab and turning it into a new blood lab to figure out how to cure himself and Milo. That's way beyond what Tony did because whether it was imprisonment with the Ten Rings or his own lab, he always had money and tools at his disposal.
Morbius, on the other hand, never had big funding, nor did he take awards from shady folks, which proved he had a moral compass way before Tony did, all because he understood what it was like to be poor and an outsider. Thus, Morbius can relate to people with a ton of compassion and empathy that can be harnessed beyond the generosity Tony showed. The vamp-hybrid would care a lot more, as opposed to Tony, who found being a father figure to Peter exhausting.
Morbius never exhibited this impatience with helping others, mostly because he didn't come from entitlement or privilege. As a result, once he can get out of the partnership with Vulture, it's easy to see him resuming his science to fix himself, his beloved Martine, or other people, which may involve helping his universe's Spider-Man. He could end up working on the wall-crawler's DNA if the hero's suffering, but this time, it'd be more nuanced than someone like Curt Connors because Morbius would know about the dangers of too much power in the field and how gifts can also be curses.
After all, he speaks to the Uncle Ben mantra of "with great power comes great responsibility," all due to the vamp inside he has to quell. It ups the stakes, makes him relatable to Peter and overall, a lot more genuine than a playboy. And ultimately, that's because, no matter what, Morbius will always be an orphan left at a home for "oil changes," allowing his goodness to come from somewhere real rather than a place of ego and something he won't view as an inconvenient nuisance.
To see how Tony Stark could be outdone, watch Morbius, currently in theaters.
