With the expansion of the multiverse in a number of films and television shows, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a number of strange, less traditional heroes join the fold, particularly when it comes to Marvel characters. Just one of those new, off-kilter heroes is Morbius, the vampiric lead of the film of the same name, out in theaters on April 1.
Long-delayed by the pandemic, the newest addition to Sony’s Spider-verse — which now includes Tom Hardy’s Venom and Dakota Johnson as Madame Web — brings House of Gucci star Jared Leto into the fold as Dr. Michael Morbius, a scientist suffering from a rare blood disease. When he seemingly finds a cure, he’s ecstatic, only for things to go very, very wrong, leading him not to perfect health, but to a new, horrifying version of vampirism that plagues him and those he loves.
Also starring alongside Leto are Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, and Jared Harris, in a film directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. Michael Keaton is also set to make an appearance, reportedly as Adrian Toomes, his character from the MCU film Spider-Man: Homecoming, better known as the Vulture — and anything’s possible, given that post-credits scene with Tom Hardy in last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Fans have also spotted other hints at the multiverse throughout the film’s trailers, though just how much the vampiric anti-hero has to do with the Spider-verse at large has yet to be revealed.
But what do the first reactions think of Morbius? Are critics and journalists fascinated by this new take on vampirism, or is Leto’s long-delayed anti-hero just another name taking up space in the massive canon of superhero (and supervillain) films? Check out some early reactions to the film below:
Leo Rydel criticized the film's VFX saying, "The CGI made me feel like I was watching Fantastic Four '05."
One early reaction said, "Jared Leto is better in this than WeCrashed."
Russ Milheim pointed out one of the main issues is that "None of the story sticks, and because of it, everything else falls apart."
"It's bad." Seems to be a common theme.
Some even called it "the worst Marvel superhero movie in a long, long time."
Others seemed enamored with the "vamp with camp," like Simon Thompson.
Collider's own Emma Kiely explained in her review:
"The central problem of Morbius is a lazy and uninspiring script. No weight or depth is given to any character. There’s little humor and when it tries to make a tongue-in-cheek joke, it fails miserably. Being a villain origin story of sorts, it’s fair to draw similarities with Venom. However, Morbius lacks all charm and devotion to its main character, hoping that lengthy action sequences and jarring images of Leto and Smith’s animated faces will make us forget about how poor the script is."
Morbius is in theaters on April 1, 2022. Yes, April Fool's Day.