After over a year and a half of delays, the latest Marvel Comics film adaptation — Sony Pictures’ Morbius — is now in theaters. And to the surprise of few, the film has proven to be an absolute disaster, earning a mere 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The less-than-stellar reception of Morbius was predicted by just about everyone who’s been following the progress of Sony’s burgeoning MCU-adjacent cinematic universe, officially known as Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. While 2018’s Venom earned a loyal following due to Tom Hardy’s performance as the title character, its 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage failed to match its predecessor’s success. And with Morbius now being panned by fans and critics alike, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe doesn’t have what it takes to stand up to the MCU.
Not Hero Material
On the surface, Morbius doesn’t seem all that different from the average MCU movie. It’s a superhero origin story that serves as the film debut of a Marvel character with a long comic history. It has a heavy emphasis on action scenes with flashy visual effects, and ends with a climactic showdown between the protagonist and a supervillain foil with similar powers. It even comes with a post-credits scene that brings the main character into a larger universe. On paper, Morbius has all the makings of a perfectly good Marvel movie. So with that in mind, what went wrong?
For starters, Morbius just isn’t a particularly well-made movie. Art is subjective, of course, but when one compares Morbius to its contemporaries from both Marvel and DC, it comes out sorely lacking. The script is bland and confusing, the cinematography is lifeless, the action is hard to follow, and the CGI is often distracting with just how bad it looks. The actors do the best with the material they’re given, particularly Jared Leto and Jared Harris. And of course, special mention must go to Matt Smith, who’s clearly having the time of his life while he chews the scenery as Milo, the movie-original big bad. Even so, a cast of accomplished actors isn’t enough to salvage a film with a lackluster script and poor direction.
However, the problem with Morbius goes deeper than just its execution. The film is flawed in its very concept: simply put, making a standalone movie about Morbius was always going to be an uphill battle. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had more than its share of films focused on lesser-known characters, from Shang-Chi to Eternals to Guardians of the Galaxy. However, all of these characters were created as the protagonists of their own stories, with multiple notable comic runs to draw inspiration from. Meanwhile, Morbius was created not as a main character, but a Spider-Man villain. And though he has indeed starred in his own solo comics over the decades, they’ve never been very successful or noteworthy.
Of course, plenty of Marvel characters have made the leap from antagonist to protagonist before. Just look at Venom, Punisher, and Deadpool, who were originally introduced as villains before finding success leading their own solo stories. However, all those characters are much more prolific within the comics than Morbius, who has spent most of his history as a minor Spider-Man antagonist who occasionally received his own comics. Compared to a character like Venom, Morbius just doesn’t have much in the way of rich characterization or iconic storylines to draw on for a film adaptation.
A Truly Tangled Web
And therein lies the problem at the core of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Namely, it's an attempt to create a series of films about Spider-Man characters, but without actually featuring Spider-Man. As of right now, the beloved Spidey villain Kraven the Hunter has his own spin-off film in production, as does supporting character Madame Web. But unlike any of the MCU’s heroes, these are all characters who were never intended to serve as the protagonist of their own story — they’re supporting players in Spider-Man’s narrative.
Granted, a character like Kraven, who has both a compelling backstory and nuanced characterization in the comics, does indeed have the potential to carry an entire film on his own. However, Kraven’s rivalry with Spider-Man is an absolutely crucial part of his character: a Kraven with no Spider-Man is just an angry hunter with a tragic past. And while a talented, passionate team of storytellers could likely make an entertaining Kraven film even without Spidey’s involvement, Sony’s current track record makes that possibility very unlikely. After all, it’s plain to see that Morbius is not a film that was made because anyone involved was passionate about making it — it’s merely a blatant attempt by Sony to cash in on the MCU’s popularity without needing to cooperate with Marvel Studios.
By removing Spider-Man’s supporting cast from the context of their original roles, Sony robs them of much of their appeal. Without Spider-Man, Venom is just another quirky anti-hero, and Morbius is just an ordinary vampire. In fact, Sony was so desperate to connect Morbius to the MCU's Spider-Man that one shot in the trailer was edited to feature Morbius walking past Spider-Man graffiti — graffiti that isn't there at all in the final movie. And that isn't even getting into the prominent use of Michael Keaton's Vulture in the film's marketing, despite the fact that he only appears in the post-credits scene. The characters in Sony's Spider-Man Universe are simply less interesting when they don’t have Spider-Man to bounce off of, and Sony clearly knows this. If they didn't, they wouldn't be so intent on creating Spidey associations in the marketing that aren't there in the actual film. But rather than allow the MCU to use Morbius or Kraven in the actual Spider-Man movies, Sony decided to give them their own films, simply because they would make more money that way.
Of course, it would be foolish to act like Marvel or Disney are somehow less profit-driven than Sony — they’re still corporations, after all. From an objective standpoint, the MCU is just as much of a shameless money-making scheme as Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Yet despite that, many of the films produced by Marvel Studios have allowed their writers, actors, and directors to tell engaging stories that have brought genuine joy to moviegoers, capturing the hearts and imaginations of fans everywhere. Meanwhile, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is the laughingstock of those same fans, because it lacks the clear vision and human touch that made the MCU so popular. Only time will tell if Morbius is the final nail in Sony’s coffin, or if their future projects will release as planned. But as of now, things aren’t looking too amazing for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.