THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR "MORBIUS."

SPOILER WARNING!

“Morbius” follows the exploits of Jared Leto’s living vampire antihero, torn between his thirst for blood and his doctorly desire to save lives. To survive, Morbius constantly drinks synthetic blood of his own creation, which is colored light blue instead of red — and that color contrast could be a reference to “The Matrix.”

“Red pill or blue pill” has evolved beyond “The Matrix” into a cultural mainstay, with the “red pill” signifying truth and the “blue pill” signifying ignorance. While Neo takes the red pill, Morbius figuratively takes the blue, but his blue blood doesn’t represent ignorance as much as it represents discipline.

Morbius resists drinking real human blood, even though he knows he’ll have to eventually, and in his friend-turned-foe, Matt Smith’s Milo, we see that red blood brings out a dangerous lust in vampires. So if this is “The Matrix” reference, what is the uncomfortable truth in the “red pill” of human blood?

Drinking blue blood lets Morbius control his urges, but in doing so, he denies his true nature. If we follow the symbolism of “The Matrix,” this means that if Morbius takes the “red pill,” he will be exposed to the truth of his own vampirism — whether that will happen in future appearances by the character is yet to be seen.