Ever since Venom was released in 2018, the film has been met with an overwhelming amount of love from viewers. Some of the reviews haven’t been too great, but fans enjoyed the film so much that Sony will be releasing a second installment later this year titled Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Venom’s character has been widely popular since his debut on screen, as well as the original Marvel Comics. His high-standing place in the Marvel Universe dates back long before 2018, and he’s even appeared on-screen before the more recent adaptations of his character.
Venom showed up during Tobey Maguire’s run as Peter Parker, with him and Eddie Brock both playing a role during Spider-Man 3 to make a name for themselves amongst superhero fans. Ever since then, Venom has had a much stronger connection to Spider-Man than any other villain or antihero in the Spider World. Giving him a revamp in 2018 was one of the best things Sony could do for their Marvel-inspired universe, using the perfect blend of comedic relief and over-exaggeration to create a character that was both deadly and likable. Based on what has been previewed in the trailers for the upcoming movie Morbius, Sony appears to be using a similar recipe for this new character.
The Morbius movie seems to be a lot less funny, but still makes use of hyperbolic displays to emphasize the character’s newfound superhuman abilities. While this recipe worked for Venom, Morbius looks as if it’s taking itself a bit too seriously (according to trailers), and not being able to laugh at itself or its over-the-top character could make the film really tacky. Fans responded well to this in Venom, because the film knew that it was totally ridiculous, which gave it a unique charm. If Morbius doesn’t acknowledge that its dark and brooding protagonist is just a little bit too dramatic, it won’t go over well amongst audiences.
Morbius is an antihero, much like Venom, who struggles to find the balance between what’s morally right and wrong. Overusing this trope could get old really quickly, especially since Morbius doesn’t seem to harbor the same levels of humor that make antiheroes like Venom, or even Deadpool, characters that fans enjoy watching. Not to mention, Morbius is a very vampiristic character, who uses echolocation like a bat and has a strong desire to feast on human blood to stay alive, and vampires have been done over and over again in popular media.
Vampire stories were really intriguing to moviegoers for a very long time. They have been portrayed as evil villains, dreamy love interests, and awkward teens struggling to calm their bloodlust and blend in with society. Some movies even used vampires as part of a historical fiction piece, or to create children's shows on massive networks such as Disney Channel. The one thing all of these projects have in common is quite simple: they poke fun at themselves and become a fan-favorite, or fans make fun of them for not knowing how insane they are.
Morbius will fall into one of the two categories above, which can determine whether or not it will be a major success or a total flop. Introducing a new character and giving them a second chance to make themselves a fan-favorite isn't a bad thing, and often leads to more success than failure in the MCU, since fans don't have any preconceived notions about what the previously unpopular character is supposed to be like on screen. The problem is that Morbius doesn’t seem to be anything entirely new, since it’s borrowing so much from films that have already been done before. Between the over-exaggerated personality traits seen in Venom, and overused vampiristic storylines, Morbius doesn’t appear to be bringing anything original to the table.
With that being said, the trailers have revealed that Morbius has been made by the same people who created Venom and even Spider-Man: Homecoming in the MCU. If the movie manages to establish itself in Spider-Man’s world, without feeling forced or totally disconnected, it could be another big win for Sony. The team that’s working on Morbius has done a lot of great work in the past, so their expertise might shine through again in the upcoming film.
Not everyone who considers themself to be a fan of the MCU, or other Marvel-inspired Sony projects, has read the Marvel Comics before, which makes Morbius's connection to Spider-Man a lot less obvious for the average moviegoer. This means that Morbius creators have a lot of ground to cover if they want their new character to fit in amongst its more popular companions since Morbius isn’t someone most are familiar with. If done right, Morbius could be a new type of character that superhero fans haven’t had the chance to see before, but the odds don’t seem to be stacked in its favor.
Morbius premieres January 21, 2022.