Sony's Spider-Man Universe shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The upcoming Kraven The Hunter film has been cast and will soon begin to shoot. The Dakota Johnson starring Madame Web film has been slated for release in 2023, and most recently, Sony announced that Bad Bunny will be playing El Muerto in an upcoming film centered around the lesser-known villain.
While the future seems exciting, some fans thought Sony would slow down and rethink their shared universe in response to Morbius' poor critical and commercial reception. The film currently holds a 5.1 rating on IMDB and many fans consider it to be the worst superhero film of the decade. And if we're being totally honest, we think they might just be right.
The CGI Is So Poor
Jared Leto claims that he pushed pretty hard for the production to use special effects to create Morbius' monstrous appearance instead of using prosthetics and practical effects. The result is jarring, disappointing, and dated, to say the least.
To say that CGI is now commonly used to create entire planets, creatures, and species flawlessly, the special effects in Morbius would look more at home in one of the CW Superhero shows. Given that we've seen a variety of stunning prosthetics work this year (Colin Farrell in The Batman, to name just one), it's safe to say that they got the decision wrong. Hopefully, they'll fix it in the inevitable sequel.
The Trailer's Lied To Us
It's common for blockbuster films, the MCU is the main culprit, to hide certain characters or plot points from their marketing. This was evident in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's exclusion from the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailers, resulting in a moment of pure excitement when the two finally appeared. In the case of Morbius, though, the trailers weren't edited to hide plot points; they were edited to make the film seem more exciting than it was.
The trailer shows Michael Morbius walking past a mural of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man with the word 'Murderer' written across it. This seemed to imply that Morbius was set in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man universe and caused a flurry of excitement amongst fans. However, that was not the case. The scene in question didn't even make it into the film, and when Morbius director Daniel Espinosa was asked about it, he claimed that he had no idea why it had been included in the trailer.
A Generic Villain
If there's one thing superhero fans are all a little tired of, it's the age-old trope of seeing a villain that boasts identical powers to the hero, only their costume or design is a slightly different color. We've seen it in Iron Man, Ant-Man, Venom, Black Panther, and many other superhero films, and we'd happily never see it again. However, what's most disappointing about Matt Smith's Milo is that he seemingly has no valid reason to turn evil.
He simply wants what he's never had - to beat his disease and live a healthy life, but he could do that with the synthetic blood that Michael Morbius created and drinks. There's literally no reason for him to become the homicidal maniac he transforms into, which rids the final fight of any tension. It's a shame, too, because Matt Smith is an excellent actor who deserves another chance in a blockbuster. Hopefully, his next one won't see him perform a strange topless dance.
It's A Largely Bloodless Vampire Movie
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which is currently breaking IMAX records, showed audiences just how far the limits of a PG-13 rating can be stretched. Not only is the film tense and filled with horror elements, but it also features bloody violence and even a graphic death or five.
Morbius chose to play it incredibly safe, mostly showing only drops of blood or replacing it with blue synthetic blood. This decision was obviously made in an effort to attract as large an audience as possible, yet it ended up alienating fans of the character and confusing critics. The marketing was dark and gritty, yet the end product was anything but. The Venom films have struggled with a similar issue, and hopefully, this is something the studio can learn from as their cinematic universe continues to grow.
Which Universe Is This Set In?
Given that we're now three films into Sony's Spider-Man Universe, it's rather unusual that we still know next to nothing about the universe in which the films are set. Michael Morbius refers to himself as Venom while taunting a group of criminals, which indicates that Tom Hardy's Venom shares a universe with Morbius, but beyond that, everything else is unclear.
Daniel Espinosa claimed that this universe does have a Spider-Man, but so far, nobody knows if it's Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield or a new iteration of the fan-favorite character. Morbius' post-credits scene teased a connection with the MCU, but it was so strenuous and far-fetched that it gave fans the impression that Kevin Feige wants nothing to do with this universe. Who can blame him?
The Post-Credits Scenes... Sigh
The Vulture, Michael Keaton's delightful villain last seen in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Homecoming, shocked fans when he appeared in the Morbius trailer, teasing a connection between Morbius and the MCU. Given the quality of his performance in Homecoming, it's disappointing that the arrival of The Vulture is one of the most jarring aspects of the film.
He arrives in a jail cell, seemingly transported there by Doctor Strange's spell, and is then promptly released because he doesn't exist in this universe. He then meets with Morbius, in a new Vulture suit he's inexplicably made for himself, to tease the Sinister Six. There are many reasons this makes no sense, not least in the fact that The Vulture doesn't spare a thought for his family, who were his entire motivation in Homecoming. It's the lazy approach to introducing the character that frustrated fans so much, and hopefully, we will be provided with a better explanation should Keaton return in a future film.