There's no simpler way to put it: Morbius was devastated by the criticism.
After the phenomenal success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it was hoped that Sony's next Marvel movie might inherit at least some of the webslinger's magic, but instead, critics suggest that Morbius could be among the worst movies. of the year.
Before we dive into those reactions, though, a quick synopsis: Morbius stars Jared Leto as a scientist-turned-vampire antihero who must come to terms with his newfound bloodlust. The film is set in the same universe as Tom Hardy's Venom and hits theaters worldwide on April 1 (UK audiences will be able to see it a day earlier on March 31).
Let's start with the Rotten Tomatoes overview. According to the review aggregator site, Morbius currently has a solid 19% review rating, based on feedback from 63 reputable journalists. For context, that number places the film worse off than 2019's X-Men movie Dark Phoenix and even 1995's Judge Dredd in the site's ranking of the lowest-rated superhero movies of all time. Oh.
Digging deeper into the reviews, the language used is even more damning, but let's start with the good ones (relatively speaking...).
Todd Gilchrist of the A.V. Club called Morbius "a smooth, competent, confident superhero adventure that seems destined to be forgotten before the end credits roll." Similarly, Owen Gleiberman of Variety said it was "close to being a generic Marvel movie", but ultimately little more than a chance for "Leto to beat the clock and jump on the comics bandwagon".
Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson praised the film's "seriousness of intent" in regards to its lack of snarling humor, while IGN's Matt Donato said that "audiences get exactly what they'd expect most from this cheap source."
That, however, explains all the semi-positive reception we could find. Other critics, like Playlist's Jason Bailey, didn't hold back: “Morbius is bad, yes, but it's not even funny, bad, like the Venom movies; he is a bit depressing.
#Morbius is the worst Marvel superhero movie in a long, long time. Mostly inert, sometimes laughable. And the scene where someone tries to summon a cat by shaking his litter box, only to assume the cat is gone when it doesn't work, is the weirdest thing I've seen in years. pic.twitter.com/tNHmN63Ug331March 2022, XNUMX
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Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent was equally scathing, calling the Spider-Man spin-off "too bland to be the wild, no-strings-attached mess some were secretly hoping for", while Kevin Maher of The Times criticized it. superhero party without dramatic risk, originality, narrative coherence, endearing characters, or even a single vaguely human performance.
Can it be worse than that? Of course it's possible. Tom Beasley of Film Stories said that "Venom's gonzo mayhem brought a franchise to life, but rightly sucked it all in. Kate Erbland of IndieWire wrote that "even the film's most basic elements are incomprehensible."
But it was Rolling Stone's David Fear who delivered perhaps the harshest review of all, describing Morbius as "the most anemic Marvel movie ever made."
Analysis: A bad start to a (hopefully) good year for Marvel
Hearing that, Morbius is nowhere near replicating the heroic delights of December's Spider-Man: No Way Home, a fact that will likely affect Morbius' performance at the box office.
Marvel fans, however, should take comfort in knowing that Morbius exists outside of the Marvel Phase 4 universe. On that front, the superhero studio has three bona fide entries coming throughout the year that are sure to fare better ( with critics and audiences) than Jared Leto's titular vampire.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6), Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11) are among the many new movies hitting theaters in 2022, all which seem to lead the MCU is moving forward significantly.
But that's not all Marvel has in store for its ardent fanbase. There are also three MCU Disney Plus shows on the way in 2022: Moon Knight is the first of these, with the TV series starring Oscar Isaac making its streaming debut on March 30. You can check out our spoiler-free review of the show, if you haven't already.
Ms. Marvel will follow Moon Knight on June 8, while She-Hulk will make her live-action debut in late 2022. Secret Invasion, in which Samuel L Jackson reprises his role as Nick Fury, is also coming this year. , but its release is still up in the air. There could even be a second season of the animated series What If...? anthology series this year, but that remains to be seen at present.
So Marvel fans will be enjoying the new MCU productions for some time. Critics, however, seem to have had enough of Morbius. With the film now in theaters, moviegoers at large can see for themselves whether those reviews are overblown or spot on.