The reviews were lousy, it was a disappointment at the box office, and the audience spitefully turned it into a meme. Nevertheless, Marvel fans may have to deal with “Morbius” for a longer time. This is now possible on Disney+!
Dr. For years, Michael Morbius promised in movie trailers and YouTube commercials that he would always be at your service. But the vampire-like anti-hero embodied by Jared Leto only took off in spring 2022 after numerous postponements and a similar number of teaser, trailer and advertising clip releases. “Get started” is still phrased quite positively: With a pure production budget of over 75 million dollars, “Morbius“Globally, it grossed less than $168 million at the box office.
This is a terrible result for an adaptation of a Marvel comic. But no matter how much the film may have flopped in the cinema: Marvel fans will not be able to avoid a tryst with Leto based on its infamous final scene alone. Anyone who wants to experience it again or catch up on it now has reason to do so: “Morbius” is available now Disney+ available.
“Morbius” on Disney+*
This is “Morbius”
Over there, in the Sony comic film universe in which “Venom” also takes place: Dr. Michael Morbius suffers from a rare blood disease and has dedicated his life to finding a cure. Not just for its own sake – his childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith) also suffers from the disease. When Morbius crosses human and vampire bat DNA and makes himself a test subject, joy and sorrow follow: Although his illness seems to be getting milder, he develops superhuman abilities and an insatiable greed for human blood…
The paying cinema audience largely ignored “Morbius”, while the film press largely turned up its nose – our 2-star review is one of the more merciful judgments about the Daniel Espinosa directorial work. However: “Morbius” became the basis for numerous memes, from ironic hymns of praise to photo montages to the derogation of the saying “It’s Morbin’ Time!”, which doesn’t even appear in the film. Even the main actor, Jared Leto let himself be carried away by this wave – but we are still pretty sure: Despite all the irony, Morbius will also play a serious role in Marvel’s future. To go into this in more detail, however, we have to look at the end of the film…
+++ Spoiler +++
During “Morbius” there is another “disciple exchange”, so to speak, between the “Venom” verse and the Marvel Cinematic Universe: After “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ended with Tom Hardy’s Venom being catapulted into the MCU (whereupon “Spider-Man: No Way Home” brought him back), a similar event is now taking place. At the end of “Morbius” the of Michael Keaton Vulture, played by the MCU, is beamed into the film world officially named “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” (SSU for short) and offers Morbius a collaboration.
And even if under normal circumstances one might fear (or hope) that an economic disappointment like “Morbius” would simply be ignored in the long term, such times are now over for Marvel adaptations. It’s hard to imagine Marvel Studios letting their Vulture sink into the SSU without comment – and after “Spider-Man: No Way Home” retroactively raised the reputation of the long-derided “Amazing Spider-Man” films, “Morbius” will surely also be blessed with relevance in some way.
Very cynical Marvel fans have a downright nasty guess as to what could happen: In “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness” it is established that entire universes are destroyed if visitors from other corners of the multiverse hang out in them for too long. Seen this way, Keaton’s Vulture is a ticking time bomb that could bring down the SSU if no one acts…
Although the SSU has been considered over since “Kraven The Hunter”, the older “Spider-Man” film series were also considered before “Spider-Man: No Way Home” picked them up again. It is therefore quite possible that one of the upcoming MCU films will pick up the open “Morbius” plot thread again. If only to give us a reunion with Keaton. By the way, he’s also up to mischief in the following film:
New on Amazon Prime Video: This comic blockbuster is considered a mega-flop – but it is the best DC film since “The Dark Knight”!
This is a revised republication of an article that previously appeared on FILMSTARTS.
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