Jump to content

Morbius (film)

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Morbius
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel Espinosa
Written byMatt Sazama
Burk Sharpless
Based onMarvel Comics
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyOliver Wood
Edited byPietro Scalia[1]
Music byJon Ekstrand
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • March 10, 2022 (2022-03-10) (Plaza Carso)
  • April 1, 2022 (2022-04-01) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75–83 million[3]
Box office$167.5 million[4][5]

Morbius is a 2022 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, and Matt Tolmach Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the third film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by the writing team of Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, the film stars Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, alongside Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. In the film, Michael and his surrogate brother Milo (Smith) become living vampires after curing themselves of a rare blood disease.

There were previously two notable attempts to adapt the character of Michael into a cinematic form since 1998, those being a role in the Blade franchise as an antagonist and having a solo film produced by Artisan Entertainment, neither of which ever came to fruition. After announcing plans for a new shared universe of films inspired by Spider-Man related characters beginning with Venom (2018), Sony began developing a film based on Michael. Sazama and Sharpless had written a script by November 2017, and Leto and Espinosa officially joined in June 2018. Work on the film began at the end of the year with further casting, ahead of production starting in London in February 2019. Filming was confirmed to have been completed by June 2019, with reshoots happening in Los Angeles the following February. Jon Ekstrand was hired to compose the film's score.

Morbius premiered at the Plaza Carso in Mexico City on March 10, 2022 and was theatrically released in the United States on April 1, after being delayed several times from an initial July 2020 date, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was a critical and commercial failure, receiving criticism for the writing, visual effects, and post-credits scenes, although Smith's performance received some praise; the film also grossed only $167.5 million worldwide. It became the subject of internet memes mocking its reception and quality; the popularity of said memes led Sony to re-release the film in theaters the following June, to another commercial failure. It later received five Golden Raspberry Awards nominations, including Worst Picture, and ended up winning Worst Actor for Leto and Worst Supporting Actress for Arjona.

Plot

At a hospital in Greece, 10-year-old Michael Morbius welcomes his surrogate brother Lucien, whom he renames Milo; they bond over their shared blood illness and desire to be "normal". Seeing Michael's potential, their adoptive father and hospital director Nicholas arranges for Michael to attend medical school in New York while he focuses on caring for Milo.

25 years later, Michael publicly declines a Nobel Prize for his work with artificial blood. His colleague Martine Bancroft discovers he has secretly captured dozens of vampire bats from Costa Rica in the hope of splicing their genes with his own to cure his condition. Michael receives funding from Milo to outfit a private mercenary vessel in international waters with his equipment. While the cure works, it transforms Michael into a vampire who kills and drains the crew of their blood after they attack him out of fear. Once his bloodlust subsides and he regains his senses, a horrified Michael erases all CCTV footage of his experiment before contacting authorities and jumping overboard.

Michael returns to New York and discovers he now has superhuman strength, speed, and echolocation, with his vampire bats treating him as one of their own. To control his bloodlust, he subsists on his artificial blood as it gradually ceases to satisfy his needs. FBI agents Simon Stroud and Al Rodriguez investigate Michael's victims and deduce his involvement. Milo learns that Michael is cured but becomes furious when Michael refuses to cure him as well. While checking on a hospitalized Martine, Michael finds a dead nurse, drained of her blood. Believing he was responsible, he attempts to escape before being arrested by Stroud. In prison, he is visited by Milo and realizes Milo took his cure and killed the nurse. Michael escapes to confront him. An unrepentant Milo urges Michael to embrace his powers as he has. Unwilling to hurt his brother, Michael flees.

Michael meets Martine, acquires a new lab, and develops an antibody against vampirism to stop Milo; he also plans to use it on himself. Stroud and Rodriguez find footage of one of Milo's attacks and, believing Michael's vampirism to be spreading, release it to the media. Nicholas recognizes Milo and pleads with him to stop. Angered by Nicholas' perceived preference for Michael, Milo mortally wounds him; Michael arrives too late to save him while Milo also mortally wounds Martine. Martine dies in Michael's arms, forcing him to drink her blood. Michael summons an army of bats to restrain Milo and inject the antibody. Milo dies and Michael flies off with the bats, mourning his loved ones and embracing his identity as a vampire. Unbeknownst to him, Martine is resurrected, having ingested a drop of Michael's blood as he fed on her.

In two mid-credits scenes, Adrian Toomes is transported to Michael's universe from his own.[a] Surmising that Spider-Man is somehow responsible, Toomes approaches the fugitive Michael and suggests that they form a team.[b]

Cast

  • Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius:
    A scientist suffering from a rare blood disease whose attempts to cure himself afflict him with a form of transgenic vampirism,[7][8] gaining all of the superhuman abilities but none of the superstitious weaknesses associated with vampires. Leto was drawn to the character's struggle with his disease and the moral implications of a hero who has a thirst for blood.[9] He found the role surprisingly challenging since it was less character-driven than his prior performances and closer to his real-life personality, not requiring his well-known method acting approach.[10] Charlie Shotwell portrays a young Michael.[11]
  • Matt Smith as Lucien / Milo Morbius:
    Michael's surrogate brother, a wealthy man originally named Lucien and nicknamed Milo by Michael (due to sharing a bed with many previous boys named Milo), who suffers from the same rare blood disease as he does.[12] When Milo gains the same abilities as Michael, he embraces his identity as a vampire whole-heartedly.[13] Smith was originally announced to play comic book character Loxias Crown / Hunger, but this was later changed to a significantly different character based on Michael himself.[14] After turning down other superhero film roles, Smith joined the film due to Daniel Espinosa's involvement and encouragement from his former Doctor Who castmate Karen Gillan, who portrays Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[15] Espinosa encouraged Smith to give a bold, villainous performance.[14] Joseph Esson portrays a young Milo.[16]
  • Adria Arjona as Dr. Martine Bancroft: A scientist and Michael's colleague.[17][18] Arjona said the character was "the smart one in the room" and took inspiration from politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[19]
  • Jared Harris as Dr. Emil Nicholas: A mentor and father figure for Michael and Milo who runs a facility that looks after people with incurable illnesses.[20]
  • Al Madrigal as Al Rodriguez: An FBI agent hunting Michael, and Stroud's partner.[21]
  • Tyrese Gibson as Simon Stroud:
    An FBI agent hunting Michael, and Rodriguez's partner.[22][21] Gibson noted that the character is white in the comic books, and the producers "made him black" to cast Gibson. While Gibson described Stroud as a "superhero" with a "hi-tech weapons-grade arm" in the film, all scenes featuring this arm were cut.[23] Gibson signed a three-picture deal when he joined the film.[24]

Corey Johnson portrays mercenary Mr. Fox,[25] while Michael Keaton makes a cameo appearance in the mid-credits scenes as Adrian Toomes / Vulture, reprising his role from the MCU film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).[26] J. K. Simmons filmed a cameo reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson, but his scenes were cut.[27]

Production

Development

Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment in May 2000 to co-produce, finance, and distribute several films based on Marvel Comics characters, including Morbius, the Living Vampire.[28] Previously, the character was set to appear in Blade (1998), portrayed by director Stephen Norrington in a cameo appearance ahead of a larger role in a sequel. However, the character was cut from the first film and not introduced in Blade II (2002) after Norrington chose not to return for that film.[29] In May 2017, Sony announced plans for a new shared universe featuring Spider-Man-related properties beginning with Venom in October 2018;[30] this was later titled "Sony's Spider-Man Universe".[31] In July, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) director Jon Watts expressed interest in featuring Morbius and Blade in the then untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), believing that the character's dark tone could work well within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[32] That November, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless submitted a script to Sony for a Morbius film, after a "secret development process" at the studio.[33] Jared Leto became "loosely attached" to star in the title role, but would not commit to the film until he was happy with its direction; Leto asked to personally meet with several director candidates.[34]

Jared Leto stars in the role of Morbius. Director Daniel Espinosa joined the film after meeting with Leto while he was on tour with his band Thirty Seconds to Mars.

By the end of April 2018, Sony had approached Antoine Fuqua about potentially directing the film. He expressed interest in taking on the project, and said that if he was to make a film in the superhero genre he would want to make it "something that's closer to what I get excited about."[35] He ultimately chose not to take on the project.[34] Other directors that Sony approached about the film included F. Gary Gray, who considered directing the film but ultimately turned down the role,[36] and Daniel Espinosa, who previously directed the film Life (2017) for the studio.[34] In May, while on tour in Germany with his band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto met with Espinosa to talk about the film,[34] and the pair were both confirmed for the project at the end of June. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Lucas Foster were producing,[8] and filming was expected to begin by the end of 2018. Sony was expected to fit the film into its already-set Marvel release slate shortly.[34]

Pre-production

By the end of September, Sony was intending for production on the film to take place in Atlanta, Georgia—where Spider-Man: Homecoming and Venom were previously produced—but had still not set a release date for the film.[37][38] Screen Rant's Cooper Hood opined that Sony was likely waiting to see the response to Venom in early October, with Arad confirming at that time that there was excitement at Sony to produce Morbius, especially due to the story of a "healer that becomes a killer, and how do you deal with [that?]"[38] Tolmach said the project was "very far along" at that stage and they were now planning to begin filming in early 2019,[39][40] with the intention that Morbius would be the second film released as part of Sony's shared universe after Venom.[39] He added that Leto was bringing the same "intensity" to the film that he had brought to playing the Joker in Suicide Squad (2016).[41] By November, box office analysts believed that Venom had been successful enough for Sony to move ahead with other films like Morbius,[42] and at the end of that month the studio dated an untitled Marvel film that was believed to be Morbius for a July 10, 2020, release.[43] Adria Arjona entered negotiations to portray the film's female lead, Martine Bancroft, in December;[17] her involvement was confirmed a month later when Sony pushed the release date to July 31,[18] and Matt Smith also joined the cast in an undisclosed role.[44][45] Art Marcum and Matt Holloway made uncredited contributions to the film's script.[46][47]

Filming

Principal photography began during the last week of February 2019 in London,[48][49] under the working title Plasma.[50] Oliver Wood served as cinematographer for the film, which would be the last he would do so before his death in February 2023.[51] With the start of filming, Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson joined the cast as Michael's mentor and an FBI agent hunting Michael, respectively.[22][52][53] Smith was reported to be portraying the villainous Loxias Crown / Hunger,[22] though he was later revealed to be playing an original character named Milo who is similar to Loxias Crown.[14] Harris was revealed to be portraying Dr. Nicholas, a mentor and father figure to both Michael and Milo.[20] In March, filming took place in Manchester's Northern Quarter, doubling for New York City.[54] A month later, Gibson revealed that he was portraying Simon Stroud, and that Al Madrigal had been cast as his partner, Alberto Rodriguez.[21] At the end of the month, Justin Haythe was believed to have contributed to the film's script.[55] Filming was scheduled to take 12 weeks,[15][48] and Venom producer Amy Pascal said in June that production had "just wrapped" on the project.[56] Production also occurred at Pinewood Studios.[57]

Post-production

In September 2019, Sony announced a new agreement with Disney that extended a previous deal to have Marvel Studios and its president Kevin Feige produce a sequel to Far From Home, keeping Spider-Man in Marvel's shared universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As part of the new agreement, Feige stated that moving forward the MCU's Spider-Man would be able to "cross cinematic universes" and appear in Sony's own shared universe as well.[58] This interaction was said to be "a 'call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe".[59] The film's first trailer, released in January 2020, includes a brief appearance by Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Adrian Toomes / Vulture from the coproduced Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming.[26][60] Some of Keaton's scenes had to be reshot when the events depicted in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) did not properly coincide with Morbius.[61] Keaton admitted that he was hastily informed over the reason for his character appearing in Morbius, adding that "even they couldn't quite explain it."[62] Certain moments, such as Michael walking past a graffiti painting of Spider-Man, were added in the film without Espinosa's knowledge, only to be removed in the final film.[63]

Reshoots for the film began in Los Angeles by early February 2020,[64] and were finished a month later when film productions around the United States were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[65] At the end of March, the film's release date was pushed back to March 19, 2021, due to the pandemic closing theaters around the world.[66] In January 2021, the film was delayed again, first to October 8, 2021, and then to January 21, 2022, when No Time to Die was moved to the October 2021 date.[67] At the end of January, Leto revealed that additional reshoots were taking place in mid-February.[68] The film's release was moved back another week at the end of April 2021, moving to January 28, 2022.[67] At the start of January 2022, the film was delayed to April 1, 2022, due to the box office success of Spider-Man: No Way Home which Sony hoped would continue throughout early 2022.[69] Later that month, Corey Johnson was revealed to have a role in the film.[25] In March, visual effects supervisor Matthew E. Butler revealed that motion capture technology had been used for Leto to portray Michael's vampiric form.[70] Espinosa cited Pokémon as an influence on the portrayal of Michael's powers, specifically singling out the series's use of light and color to depict the title creatures' attacks and abilities.[71]

Music

By October 2019, Jon Ekstrand was set to compose the score for Morbius after doing the same for Espinosa's previous films.[72] Ekstrand's score was released digitally by Madison Gate Records on April 8, 2022.[73]

Marketing

The teaser trailer for the film was released on January 13, 2020.[9] Julia Alexander at The Verge described the premise of the film as presented by the trailer as "ridiculous",[74] while Matt Goldberg of Collider felt it looked "silly" and also noted that the film looked very similar to Venom, which he acknowledged was commercially successful.[75] Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, agreed with the comparison to Venom which he felt was a good move by Sony due to the success of their last few Spider-Man films, but cautioned that Leto may not have the same box office draw for general audiences that Tom Hardy gave to Venom.[76] Much of the discussion surrounding the trailer centered on the revelation of Keaton's role and the visual reference to Spider-Man, which led to questions about the film's relationship with the Spider-Man films and the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe.[9][77][74][75] A second trailer was released on November 2, 2021, and led to further confusion and speculation about the film's connections to other franchises. Fans and commentators noted that the trailer, in addition to the Venom films, also references Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films, and the MCU Spider-Man films despite all three franchises being set in different fictional universes.[78][79][80][81] Prior to the film's theatrical release, Espinosa clarified that Morbius is set in the same universe as the SSU Venom films.[6]

In March 2022, Sony used their The Daily Bugle promotional TikTok account, previously used for Spider-Man: No Way Home, to market Morbius; the videos feature Nicque Marina reporting on events relative to the film.[82]

Release

Theatrical

Morbius had its world premiere at the Plaza Carso in Mexico City on March 10, 2022,[83][84] and was released in the United States on April 1, 2022, in IMAX and other premium large formats.[69] It was originally set for release on July 10, 2020,[18][43] before moving three weeks later to July 31.[18] The film was then delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, firstly to March 19, 2021,[66] then to October 8, 2021, and to January 21, 2022, before moving a week later to January 28.[67] It was then delayed again to the April 2022 date.[69] Sony chose not to release the film in Russia due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[85]

The negative reception toward the film generated an ironic meme culture surrounding it with "praise", which led Sony to re-release it into 1,000 theaters on June 3, 2022.[86] This re-release also performed poorly, making just $280,000 over the weekend.[87][88]

Home media

Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney in April 2021 for the U.S. streaming and TV rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows.[89][90] Netflix signed for exclusive "first pay window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18 month window and included future Marvel films in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.[89] Morbius began streaming on Netflix starting September 7, 2022.[91] Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.[90][92] Morbius was released on digital download on May 17, 2022, and was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on June 14 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[93]

Reception

Box office

Morbius grossed $73.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $93.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $167.5 million.[5][4]

In the U.S. and Canada, Morbius was projected to gross around $33 million from 4,268 theaters in its opening weekend, with some industry tracking going as high as $40–50 million.[94] The film earned $17.3 million on its first day, including $5.7 million from Thursday preview screenings.[3][95] It went on to debut to $39 million, finishing first at the box office.[3][96] In its second weekend of release in the U.S. and Canada, the film grossed $10.2 million and finished second behind Sonic the Hedgehog 2,[97] while experiencing a drop of 74%, the second-worst of all time for a superhero movie, behind only Steel (1997), and the worst of any tentpole superhero movie.[98] It fell to sixth place at the box office in its third weekend, grossing $4.7 million (a drop of 54%),[99] and dropped to ninth place in its fourth weekend with $2.3 million (a drop of 51%).[100] The film earned $1.5 million in its fifth weekend, finishing tenth.[101] Morbius dropped out of the box office top ten in its sixth weekend.[102] The film's "re-release" in theaters during its tenth weekend made $310,665 from 1,037 screens during its first three days.[103]

Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $44.9 million from 62 international markets in its opening weekend, including $2.5 million from IMAX screens.[104] It added $15 million in its second weekend for a drop of 62%.[105] It added $6.7 million in the third weekend,[106] $3.3 million in its fourth,[107] and $1.6 million in its fifth.[108]

On June 3, 2022, Sony announced the film would return to 1,000 theaters weeks after its initial theatrical and digital release. This was largely attributed to the film's influx in attention from Internet memes in the weeks prior.[109] This decision was also met with criticism from various outlets, which speculated that the release was because Sony was unaware that the Internet trend was not due to legitimate popular admiration towards the film.[110][111] Upon its re-release the film performed very poorly, making only $85,000 on the day it was released, with many outlets claiming the film bombed for a second time.[112][113] After a dismal $300,000 weekend performance in its re-release—a $289 per-theater average—Sony pulled the film entirely from theaters; it was the 14th highest-grossing film domestically for its short re-release period.[114][5]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 284 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Cursed with uninspired effects, rote performances, and a borderline nonsensical story, this dreary mess is a vein [sic] attempt to make Morbius happen."[115] It ranks as the 18th worst-reviewed superhero movie on the site.[116] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 35 out of 100 based on 55 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[117] Indo-Asian News Service described the film as having been "utterly ravaged" by critics,[118] and Variety reported reception as being "comically bad".[119] Jonathon Crump of Manchester Evening News reported that early reviews to the film are mixed at best, although he noted that some critics "praised the acting in the film, including Leto's performance".[120] Variety's Ellise Shafer also said while the reviews were negative overall, Smith "did receive some praise for his performance".[121] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 62% positive score (with an average 2.5 out of 5 stars), with 47% saying they would definitely recommend it.[3] The C+ score is the second-worst of any Marvel adaptation, ahead of only Fantastic Four (2015).[122]

Reviewing the film for Collider, Emma Kiely felt that the "central problem of Morbius is a lazy and uninspiring script" and added that "no weight or depth is given to any character." She also noted that there is "little humor" in the film and "when it tries to make a tongue-in-cheek joke, it fails miserably."[123] Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail panned the film, saying it "is charmless, incoherent, ugly and so aggressively stupid that it defies any attempt to shove it into the desperate 'guilty pleasure' box."[124] Wendy Ide of The Observer gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, calling it an "incoherent, vampire-themed Marvel offcut."[125] Hannah Strong of Little White Lies also gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, describing it as "soulless, tedious filmmaking".[126] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying: "It looks like Morbius might soon cross paths with Spider-Man in one universe or another, but that would be a big step up for him, because his introductory vehicle feels more like a just-average 1990s vampire movie."[127] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle awarded the film a 3 out of 4 and called the film "briskly riveting" and a "perfect antidote to bloated The Batman".[128] Chris Bumbray of JoBlo.com gave the film a 6 out of 10 and called it "a decent enough start for the latest addition to the Sony Spider-Man Universe" while also praising the cinematography and "horror aspects" of the plot.[129]

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B grade, saying that Leto "hits the right notes of fear and longing in a surprisingly restrained performance".[130] Stephanie Zacharek of Time commended Leto's performance writing that it has a "quietly vibrating vulnerability".[131] The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney said the film "only intermittently matches the intensity" of Leto's performance and wrote: "It's just a shame this opening salvo takes itself too seriously to have much fun with the mayhem, despite the potential in Smith's devilish turn for amusing interplay between the antagonists."[132] Matt Donato of IGN, who awarded the film a 5 out of 10, praised Smith's performance for providing a "colorfulness the film desperately needs", saying that his "flamboyance and spirit is the antithesis to Leto's drearily dour genius, which is a purposeful but inefficient comparison", and unfavorably compared Leto's solemn performance to Tom Hardy's "campy" performance in the Venom films."[133]

The post-credits scenes also came under heavy scrutiny and became a joke in the eyes of the general public due to the failed fan service, confusing and incoherent explanation, and dialogue.[134] Kate Erbland of IndieWire stated, "This is confusing stuff, and the appearance of Keaton in a pair of [mid-credits] scenes does little to help the sense that Morbius is mostly incoherent, or at least very at odds with whatever it's trying to say."[135] Julia Glassman of The Mary Sue found the overall reveal weak, stating, "I'm beginning to wonder if Sony just... doesn't quite get the point of [mid-credits] scenes."[136] Time Out's Cathy Brennan felt that the film's "attempts" to "court an audience by dangling a potential connection" to the MCU's Spider-Man is "the worst kind of unearned fan service in a film this lacklustre."[137]

Two years after the film's release, Espinosa expressed regret over making the film stating, "To make a movie through committee, I think, is very hard, and I felt in the end that maybe a different director would have been a better fit."[138]

At the 43rd Golden Raspberry Awards, Morbius received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay; and won Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actress.[139]

Internet memes

Due to its lackluster box office performance and dour critical reception, Morbius inspired various Internet memes.[140] Polygon wrote that the film became "a kind of collective internet hate watch",[141] with fans sharing meme shitposts which ironically praised it.[c] Following its release, the hashtag #MorbiusSweep, which jokingly claimed Morbius was the most financially and critically successful film of all time, began trending.[146] Claims included the film becoming the first to sell over a trillion tickets,[147] the first to make over a "morbillion" dollars,[148] receiving an impossible 203% or higher approval rating (and similarly-impossible 142% or higher audience rating) from Rotten Tomatoes,[149] and an edited screenshot of the Wikipedia page covering the highest-grossing films, with Morbius supposedly having earned $352.9 trillion.[143] Another example made the claim that Martin Scorsese, who had previously declared that superhero films were not cinema, had changed his mind after seeing the film; this fake quote was shared on Instagram by Morbius actor Tyrese Gibson and later deleted, which journalists attributed to Gibson believing it was genuine.[150]

The film received a resurgence in Internet memes following its release to video on demand, with many involving the fake catchphrase "it's Morbin' time",[151][152][153] a play on the Power Rangers catchphrase "it's Morphin' time"[154][155] and/or the Ben Grimm catchphrase "It's Clobberin' Time".[156][157] Users on the film's official Discord server call themselves "Morbheads",[147] and users engaged in "Morbin'" on various Discord servers by distributing pirated copies.[158] A large number of channels on the live-streaming service Twitch began illegally hosting the entire film on repeat;[153][159] one channel, Morbius247, was banned after acquiring thousands of followers.[160] Morbius piracy spread to other platforms, including Twitter, where the entire film was posted in a series of 52 two-minute long videos, compressed into a 30-second long video, and the entire script copy-and-pasted into individual tweets.[161][162] On Tumblr, the entire film was compressed into a minuscule GIF file and widely spread.[141] Additionally, viral fake news posts claiming that a Morbius sequel had been greenlit as a result of the Internet memes spread on Twitter,[163][164] leading "Morbius 2" to trend on the website,[165][166] in addition to the phrase "it's Morbin' time" trending on Twitter for a week.[167]

Leto, in response to the memes, tweeted "What time is it?" and a 19-second video where he was "caught" reading a script titled Morbius 2: It's Morbin' Time "written" by himself under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins.[168][169] Following the financial failure of the re-release, a petition was started on Change.org to put the film back in theaters for a third time with the claim that "we were all busy that weekend".[170]

Future

In January 2021, Leto said there was potential for Michael to appear alongside the character Blade in a future project, with Mahershala Ali cast in that role for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[171] That December, in discussing the introduction of the multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Leto said there was potential for further crossovers with his character in future films.[172] Tom Holland expressed interest in seeing his version of Spider-Man from the MCU fighting Michael in the future,[173] while producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal confirmed interest in a potential film starring both Leto and Ali.[174] In March 2022, Leto also expressed interest in a future film featuring Michael appearing alongside Venom, portrayed by Tom Hardy.[175] During CinemaCon 2022, Sony announced numerous Marvel projects. Some outlets noted that while Venom: The Last Dance (2024) and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse were announced, there was no announcement for a Morbius sequel, leaving the character's future in question.[176][177]

Notes

  1. ^ Toomes is transported from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Sony's Spider-Man Universe due to the events of the film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).[6]
  2. ^ Identified off-screen as the Sinister Six[6]
  3. ^ Attributed to multiple sources:[140][142][143][144][145]

References

  1. ^ Grierson, Tim (March 30, 2022). "Morbius: Review". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  2. ^ "Morbius (2022)". Irish Film Classification Office. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 3, 2022). "Morbius Shaves Teeth To $39M+ Opening – Sunday AM Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Morbius". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 31, 2022.Edit this at Wikidata
  5. ^ a b c "Morbius". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c O'Connell, Sean (March 25, 2022). "Here's How Spider-Man, Venom And The Multiverse Will Factor Into Jared Leto's Morbius Movie". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  7. ^ Ramirez II, Hector (January 14, 2020). "Morbius: Sony Releases Spider-Verse Vampire Film's Official Summary". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 27, 2018). "Jared Leto, Daniel Espinosa Team For Sony's 'Morbius' Spider-Man Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Yehl, Joshua (January 14, 2020). "Morbius Trailer First Look: Jared Leto Talks Debut as the Iconic Marvel Monster". IGN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  10. ^ Variety (January 28, 2021). Jared Leto & John David Washington on 'Tenet,' 'Little Things' And More | Actors on Actors. YouTube. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Gressley, Abbie (April 4, 2022). "10 Movies And TV Shows Where You've Seen The Cast Of Morbius". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Sim, Jonathan (April 4, 2022). "Morbius Review: An Overly Serious and Nonsensical Superhero Film". Mandatory. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via ComingSoon.net.
  13. ^ Morales, Wilson (March 26, 2022). Interview: Matt Smith on playing Milo Morbius in Morbius. Blackfilmandtv. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ a b c Dominguez, Noah (February 26, 2022). "Morbius Radically Changes Matt Smith's Spider-Man Villain". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Zemler, Emily (March 5, 2019). "Matt Smith leaves 'The Crown' behind for Charles Manson and Robert Mapplethorpe". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  16. ^ Van Gelder Grant, Conway [@CVGG] (January 13, 2020). "Your first glimpse at @MorbiusMovie, with Joseph Esson as the Young Loxias" (Tweet). Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ a b Couch, Aaron (December 14, 2018). "'Morbius': Adria Arjona in Early Talks to Join Jared Leto". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d Hipes, Patrick (January 25, 2019). "'Morbius' & 'Ghostbusters' Solidify Summer 2020 Release Dates". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  19. ^ Liu, Narayan (February 27, 2022). "Morbius Star Channeled Congresswoman AOC for the Spider-Man Spinoff". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Provencher, Bo (February 27, 2022). "Morbius Finally Reveals a Key Character's Name, Role in the Story". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "He just wrapped for that day.... I come back to our shared tent and once again he ate ALL the snacks... I can't sleep around this dude cause he's funny as hell and I guess he really didn't think I would notice that he's eating everything in sight.... My #PIC partner in crime aka Agent Alberto Rodriguez aka @almadrigal the bad guys are doomed!!!! #Marvel #Morbius #SetLife #AgentSimonStroud". Instagram. April 19, 2019. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (March 5, 2019). "Tyrese Gibson in Talks to Join Jared Leto in Spider-Man Spinoff 'Morbius'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  23. ^ Riefe, Jordan (April 23, 2020). "Tyrese Gibson Talks 'F9' and Becoming a Superhero for Marvel's 'Morbius'". Maxim. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  24. ^ Gibson, Tyrese (March 11, 2019). "When you sign the deal........ "God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth" – Matthew 5:5 ► – 3 picture #Marvel deal.... #Morbius #Humbled #Grateful been praying for a breakthrough had no idea that it was going to come on this level.... Thank you Jesus! #Amen #LondonUK". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Kit, Borys (January 13, 2022). "HBO Max's 'Batgirl' Movie Adds Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson, and Ethan Kai (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  26. ^ a b Keegan, Rebecca (August 18, 2021). "Michael Keaton on Reviving Batman and the Power of Saying No to Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  27. ^ H. C., Luiz (June 16, 2022). "Biting into the B-Movie Thrills of 'Morbius' [The Silver Lining]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  28. ^ Fleming, Michael (May 16, 2000). "Artisan deal a real Marvel". Variety. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  29. ^ Brehmer, Nat (January 16, 2020). "Breaking Down the Deleted 'Blade' Ending Featuring Morbius and Why We Never Got That Sequel". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  30. ^ Busch, Anita (May 19, 2017). "Tom Hardy Is 'Venom' In New Sony Marvel Film To Be Directed By Ruben Fleischer". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  31. ^ Kim, Brendan (August 24, 2021). "Sony's Spider-Man Universe Is Official Title For Non-MCU Marvel Movies". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  32. ^ Jones, Jordan (July 6, 2017). "Jon Watts on the possibility of Morbius, Blade and The Chameleon in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2". Flickering Myth. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  33. ^ Kit, Borys (November 13, 2017). "'Spider-Man' Spinoff: Morbius the Living Vampire Movie in the Works With 'Power Rangers' Writers". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  34. ^ a b c d e Kroll, Justin (June 27, 2018). "Jared Leto to Star in 'Spider-Man' Spinoff 'Morbius' From Director Daniel Espinosa". Variety. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  35. ^ Shirey, Paul (April 24, 2018). "EXC. Antoine Fuqua Talks Potential For a Morbius or Blade Film at CinemaCon". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  36. ^ Timberlake, Braxter (May 25, 2018). "Exclusive: Plot Details for Sony's 'Morbius' Spider-Verse Spin-Off". That Hashtag Show. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  37. ^ Marc, Christopher (September 6, 2018). "Update: Jared Leto's Marvel Movie 'Morbius' Eyes Shoot in Atlanta this Fall/Winter". The GWW. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  38. ^ a b Hood, Cooper (September 28, 2018). "Why Sony is Excited About The Morbius Movie". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  39. ^ a b Wood, Matt (September 29, 2018). "Sounds Like Morbius Could Be The Next Spiderverse Movie Made After Venom". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  40. ^ Trumbore, Dave (October 9, 2018). "'Morbius' Filming Details Revealed by Producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach". Collider. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  41. ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (September 28, 2018). "'Morbius' Producers Praise Star Jared Leto". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  42. ^ Clark, Travis (November 6, 2018). "Venom' gives Sony an edge over Disney in its fight to keep 'Spider-Man,' according to industry experts". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  43. ^ a b Donnelly, Matt (November 21, 2018). "Sony Dates Two Marvel Movies for 2020". Variety. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  44. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 24, 2019). "Matt Smith Joining Jared Leto in 'Morbius'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  45. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 24, 2019). "Matt Smith to Star With Jared Leto in Marvel Spinoff 'Morbius' (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  46. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (January 13, 2020). "Morbius Taps Iron Man Writers for Rewrites". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  47. ^ "Morbius". Writers Guild of America, West. December 18, 2020. Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  48. ^ a b Leto, Jared [@JaredLeto] (March 5, 2019). "1 week down...11 to go... Get Ready 💪 #MORBIUS @MorbiusMovie" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via Twitter.
  49. ^ Zinski, Dan (February 11, 2019). "Morbius Star Jared Leto Teases Start Of Filming In London". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  50. ^ Mueller, Matthew (November 22, 2018). "'Morbius The Living Vampire' Working Title Revealed". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  51. ^ Discussing Film [@DiscussingFilm] (October 14, 2018). "Cinematographer Oliver Wood ('The Equalizer 2', 'Fantastic Four') has joined the crew as cinematographer for Daniel Espinosa's 'Morbius'. (Exclusive)" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019 – via Twitter.
  52. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (March 4, 2019). "Jared Harris Joins Jared Leto In Sony's 'Spider-Man' Spinoff 'Morbius'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  53. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 5, 2019). "Tyrese Gibson Joins Jared Leto in Marvel Spinoff 'Morbius' (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  54. ^ "Manchester given a New York City makeover for filming of Spider-Man spin-off Morbius". Sky News. March 26, 2019. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  55. ^ Polito, Thomas (March 18, 2019). "Exclusive: 'Red Sparrow' Scribe Justin Haythe Contributed to 'Morbius' Script for Sony". Geeks WorldWide. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  56. ^ Dumaraog, Ana (June 22, 2019). "Future Spider-Man Spinoff Movies Will Stand On Their Own". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  57. ^ "Morbius". Pinewood Studios. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  58. ^ Lang, Brent (September 27, 2019). "Sony, Marvel Make Up: Companies Will Produce Third 'Spider-Man' Film". Variety. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  59. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 27, 2019). "Spider-Man Back In Action As Sony Agrees To Disney Co-Fi For New Movie, Return To MCU: How Spidey's Web Got Untangled". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  60. ^ Boucher, Geoff (January 13, 2020). "'Morbius' Teaser: Jared Leto Sinks Teeth Into Marvel Vampire Role". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  61. ^ Ryan, Mike (April 4, 2022). "'Morbius' Director Daniel Espinosa On What The Heck Happened Here". Uproxx. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  62. ^ Dick, Jeremy (March 11, 2024). "Michael Keaton Is Still Just as Confused as Fans Over Morbius Cameo". CBR. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  63. ^ O'Connell, Sean (April 1, 2022). "Morbius Director Addresses That Spider-Man 'Murderer' Mural From The Movie's First Trailer". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  64. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (February 9, 2020). "Morbius Set Photos Suggest Stronger Spider-Man Presence". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  65. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 13, 2020). "Disney Pausing Production On Features 'Little Mermaid', 'Home Alone', 'Nightmare Alley' & More Until Coronavirus Calms Down". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  66. ^ a b Galuppo, Mia (March 30, 2020). "Sony Delays Release of 'Morbius,' 'Ghostbusters,' More Films Due to Coronavirus". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  67. ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 30, 2021). "Sony Marvel Movie 'Morbius' Shifts A Week Later Next Winter". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  68. ^ Cranswick, Amie (January 31, 2021). "Morbius to undergo more reshoots as Jared Leto hints at script issues". Flickering Myth. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  69. ^ a b c Grobar, Matt (January 4, 2022). "'Morbius': Sony Pushes Release Date For Jared Leto's Marvel Film". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  70. ^ Miller, Leon (March 1, 2022). "Morbius Uses Avengers' Thanos VFX Tech to Bring the Living Vampire to Life". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  71. ^ Leston, Ryan (March 17, 2022). "Exclusive: Morbius Director Took Inspiration From Pokémon". IGN. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  72. ^ "Jon Ekstrand to Score Daniel Espinosa's 'Morbius'". Film Music Reporter. October 9, 2019. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  73. ^ "'Morbius' Soundtrack Album Released". Film Music Reporter. April 8, 2022. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  74. ^ a b Alexander, Julia (January 13, 2020). "Sony's first Morbius trailer is as ridiculous as 'pseudo-vampire Marvel villain played by Jared Leto' sounds". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  75. ^ a b Goldberg, Matt (January 13, 2020). "Jared Leto Goes Full Angsty Bloodsucker in the 'Morbius' Trailer". Collider. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  76. ^ Mendelson, Scott (January 13, 2020). "'Morbius' Trailer Tries To Show That 'Venom' Was No Fluke At The Box Office". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  77. ^ Newby, Richard (January 13, 2020). "How 'Morbius' Can Build to a Spider-Man Crossover Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  78. ^ Welch, Alex (November 3, 2021). "'Morbius' trailer reveals its connections to Venom and Spider-Man". Inverse. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  79. ^ Sonnack, Matthew (November 2, 2021). "Every Spider-Verse Reference in Morbius' Second Trailer". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  80. ^ Fuge, Jonathan (November 3, 2021). "Spider-Man References in New Morbius Trailer Leave Marvel Fans Excited and Confused". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  81. ^ Langmann, Brandon (November 3, 2021). "What the Multiversal Hell is Happening in the 'Morbius' Trailer?". Esquire. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  82. ^ Standley, Scott (March 18, 2022). "Sony's Daily Bugle TikTok Video Sets Up Jared Leto's Morbius". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  83. ^ Larson, Tara (March 11, 2022). "Jared Leto Goes Wild With Adria Arjona at 'Morbius' Premiere". Footwear News. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  84. ^ "Jared Leto visita la CdMx para la premiere de 'Morbius'". Milenio (in Spanish). March 10, 2022. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  85. ^ Cain, Sian (March 1, 2022). "Disney, Sony and Warner Bros pause film releases in Russia over Ukraine invasion". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  86. ^ "Morbius Bombed – But It's Returning To Theaters After Marvel Memes". Screen Rant. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  87. ^ Mendelson, Scott. "Box Office: 'Morbius' Bombs Again With $85,000 Friday". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  88. ^ Gallagher, Tim (June 7, 2022). "Is it 'Morbin Time?' 'Morbius' mocked again after its re-release". euronews. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  89. ^ a b Galuppo, Mia (April 8, 2021). "Netflix Nabs Post-PVOD Streaming Rights to Sony's Feature Films in Multiyear Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  90. ^ a b Hayes, Dade (April 21, 2021). "Disney And Sony Reach Windows Deal That Can Sling 'Spider-Man' To Disney+ For First Time, Along With Reach Across Hulu, ABC, FX & More". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  91. ^ Perine, Aaron (September 7, 2022). "Morbius Is Now on Netflix". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  92. ^ Couch, Aaron (April 21, 2021). "Sony Films Will Move to Disney After Netflix Window Expires". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  93. ^ Weinstein, Molly Jae (May 2, 2022). "Morbius Blu-ray Release Date & Special Features Revealed". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  94. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 29, 2022). "'Morbius': Sony Sinking Teeth This Weekend Into Deeper Part Of The Marvel Genre Canon – Box Office Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  95. ^ Crow, David (April 4, 2022). "Morbius Box Office Leaves Sequel in Scary Place". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  96. ^ Adario Strange (April 4, 2022). ""Morbius" showed Sony the limits of Spider-Man's cinematic web". Quartz. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  97. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 10, 2022). "Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Goes Faster To $71M; What Ambulance's Misfire Means For Action Movies Today — Sunday Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  98. ^ Mendelson, Scott (April 10, 2022). "Box Office: Morbius Suffers Record 74% Drop As Fantastic Beasts 3 Opens Soft Overseas". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  99. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 15". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  100. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 16". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  101. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 17". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  102. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 18". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  103. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 22". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  104. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 3, 2022). "Morbius Sinks Fangs Into $84M Global Bow; Sonic Booms Overseas; The Batman Wings Past $700M WW – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  105. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 12, 2022). "Sonic 2 Speeds To $141M Global; Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore Uncovers $57M In Early Offshore Bow; RRR Roars To WW Milestone – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  106. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 17, 2022). "Fantastic Beasts Reaches $150M Overseas; India's KGF Rocks $70M+ Global Start; Sonic Speeds To $232M WW – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  107. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 24, 2022). "Fantastic Beasts 3 & Sonic 2 Near $300M Global, The Lost City Tops $100M – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  108. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (May 1, 2022). "Fantastic Beasts & Sonic Top $300M Global; Downton Abbey: A New Era Sets Table Overseas On Calm Before The Strange Weekend – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  109. ^ "Morbius Returning to Theaters Following Social Media Meme Campaign". ComicBook.com. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  110. ^ Lussier, Germain (June 2, 2022). "You've Done Morbed It: Morbius Returns to Theaters Thanks to Memes". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  111. ^ Zollner, Amelia (June 3, 2022). "Morbius Memes have Gotten So Big, the Movie's Headed Back to Theaters". IGN. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  112. ^ Mendelson, Scott. "Box Office: 'Morbius' Bombs Again With $85,000 Friday". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  113. ^ "Morbius theatrical re-release already an epic failure following the film trending on social media". JoBlo. June 4, 2022. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  114. ^ Mendelson, Scott (June 10, 2022). "Box Office: 'Morbius' Flops Again But 'Doctor Strange 2' Tops $900 Million". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  115. ^ "Morbius". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 2, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  116. ^ "36 Worst Superhero Movies of All Time". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  117. ^ "Morbius Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  118. ^ "Panned by critics, yet 'Morbius' tops North American box office". The Times of India. IANS. April 3, 2022. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  119. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (April 3, 2022). "Box Office: 'Morbius' Opens to No. 1 With Decent $39 Million". Variety. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  120. ^ Crump, Jonathon (March 31, 2022). "What are the Morbius reviews saying and what is the movie's age rating?". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  121. ^ Shafer, Ellise (March 30, 2022). "Morbius First Reactions: Critics Respond to Jared Leto's Marvel Movie". Variety. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  122. ^ Zilko, Christian (April 2, 2022). "'Morbius' Scores Second-Lowest CinemaScore for Any Marvel Adaptation". Indiewire. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  123. ^ Emma Kiely (March 31, 2022). "'Morbius' Review: Jared Leto's Turn as a Marvel Antihero Leaves Much to Be Desired". Collider. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  124. ^ Barry Hertz (March 30, 2022). "Atrocious Spider-Man spinoff Morbius represents the absolute nadir of superhero cinema". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  125. ^ Ide, Wendy (April 3, 2022). "Morbius review – insipid Marvel misfire". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  126. ^ Strong, Hannah (April 6, 2022). "Morbius". Little White Lies. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  127. ^ Roeper, Richard (March 30, 2022). "'Morbius': Even with Jared Leto and bat DNA injections, second-tier Marvel movie never takes off". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  128. ^ LaSalle, Mick (March 31, 2022). "Review: Briskly riveting 'Morbius' is perfect antidote to bloated 'The Batman'". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  129. ^ Bumbray, Chris (March 31, 2022). "Morbius Review". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  130. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (March 30, 2022). "Morbius review: Jared Leto's vampire superhero film isn't really a full movie, but it's fun". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  131. ^ Zacharek, Stephanie (March 30, 2022). "Morbius Review: Jared Leto Vibrates With Vulnerability". Time. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  132. ^ Rooney, David (March 30, 2022). "Jared Leto in 'Morbius' Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  133. ^ Donato, Matt (March 31, 2022). "Morbius Review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  134. ^ Lacey, Kellie (March 25, 2022). "Morbius Early Reactions Almost Unanimously Hate the Spider-Man Spinoff". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  135. ^ Erbland, Kate (April 2, 2022). "'Morbius': Confusing Post-Credits Scenes Hint at Incoherent Twists for the Spider-Verse". Indie Wire. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  136. ^ Glassman, Julia (April 4, 2022). "Here's What Happens in the 'Morbius' Post-Credit Scenes So You Don't Have to See the Movie". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  137. ^ Cathy Brennan (March 31, 2022). "Morbius". Time Out. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  138. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (July 18, 2024). "Daniel Espinosa On Return To Roots With 'Madame Luna' & 'The Helicopter Heist', Says A Different Director Might "Have Been A Better Fit" For 'Morbius' – Taormina". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  139. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 10, 2023). "Razzie Awards: Blonde Named Worst Picture; Other 'Winners' Include Tom Hanks, Jared Leto and the Razzies Themselves". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  140. ^ a b Collin, Robbie (May 13, 2022). "Fangs for the laughs, Marvel: how Morbius became one big joke". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  141. ^ a b Clark, Nicole (May 26, 2022). "Posting the entirety of Morbius online is the best new Morbius joke". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  142. ^ Shunpike, Stan (April 5, 2022). "These Reactions About "Morbius" Will Entertain You More Than The Movie Itself". Buzzfeed. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  143. ^ a b Suarez, Amanda (April 26, 2022). "10 Funniest Reaction Memes To Morbius". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  144. ^ Suarez, Amanda (May 2, 2022). "10 Hilarious Tweets About Morbius That Are Almost Too Savage". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  145. ^ Prasad, R.A Karthik (April 2022). "Morbius sweep trends as Marvel fans troll Jared Leto starrer with fake RT score & more". Pursue News. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  146. ^ Tassi, Paul (April 10, 2022). "Surprise, 'Morbius' Opens Up A Venom-Like Split Between Critics And Audiences". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  147. ^ a b Kelly, Zachariah (May 24, 2022). "The Official Morbius Discord Is Now a Very Funny Cult to the Living Vampire". Gizmodo Australia. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  148. ^ Dominguez, Noah (May 21, 2022). "Maligned Marvel Movie Morbius Is #1 on Apple TV". CBR. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  149. ^ Mcintosh, Cody (May 26, 2022). "Someone on Twitch Was Streaming 'Morbius' 24/7". ScreenCrush. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  150. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (April 3, 2022). "Tyrese Gibson Falls for Fake Martin Scorsese Quote Praising Morbius as "Truest Height of Cinema"". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  151. ^ "KFC Has Officially Joined in on 'Morbius' Memes". The Mary Sue. May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  152. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (May 24, 2022). "Morbius Fans Share Hilarious Memes as "Morbin" Trends on Twitter". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  153. ^ a b Barret, Ben (May 26, 2022). "Morbius mania takes over Twitch, who can't shut down illegal restreams fast enough". For The Win. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  154. ^ Barnhardt, Adam (May 24, 2022). "Morbius Fans Share Hilarious Memes as "Morbin" Trends on Twitter". ComicBook.com. Literally Media Ltd. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  155. ^ Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia (May 12, 2022). "'It's Morbin' time': Morbius memes still going strong as fake catchphrase goes viral". DailyDot.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022. Continuing the running joke of just making stuff up about Morbius because no one saw the movie anyway, "It's Morbin' time" is an imaginary catchphrase that's currently going viral on Twitter.
  156. ^ Morbin' Time Explained: How This Morbius Meme Birthed A Monster, by Marcos Melendez, at Slashfilm; published September 9, 2022; retrieved July 29, 2024
  157. ^ Despite Its Reputation as the Greatest Movie Ever Made, It Turns Out That 2021's Morbius is Actually Terrible!, by Nathan Rabin; at NathanRabin.com; published October 26, 2023; retrieved July 29, 2024
  158. ^ Troughton, James (May 23, 2022). "People Are Being Sent The Entirety Of Morbius On Discord". TheGamer. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  159. ^ "Morbius mania takes over Twitch, who can't shut down illegal restreams fast enough". MSN. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  160. ^ Lang, Brad (May 26, 2022). "Twitch Shuts Down 24/7 Morbius Livestream Channel". CBR. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  161. ^ Gribbin, Sean (May 28, 2022). "Morbius Supercut Lets Marvel Fans Spend as Little Time as Possible Watching the Film". CBR. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  162. ^ "Morbius Twitter Thread Lets You Read The Entire Movie With Pictures". ScreenRant. May 28, 2022. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  163. ^ Tassi, Paul. "'Morbius 2' Is Not Real, And It Is Not 'Morbin' Time' Yet". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  164. ^ "Dear god, no, Morbius 2 has not been greenlit". The A.V. Club. May 28, 2022. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  165. ^ "Morbius 2 Trends Online As Audiences Jokingly Demand Marvel Sequel". ScreenRant. May 29, 2022. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  166. ^ "'Morbius' Memes Have Now Led To Fans Demanding 'Morbius 2'". The Mary Sue. May 31, 2022. Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  167. ^ "'It's Morbin Time' Has Trended on Twitter for a Whole Week – Latest Tweet by Culture Crave". LatestLY. May 29, 2022. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  168. ^ "Jared Leto Declares It's Morbin' Time in Hilarious Morbius 2 Video". ComingSoon.net. June 3, 2022. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  169. ^ "Morbius 2: Jared Leto Invokes Morbin' Time Meme in Hilarious Video". ComicBook.com. June 3, 2022. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  170. ^ Lochrie, Conor (June 14, 2022). "There's a petition to get 'Morbius' back to cinemas for a third time". The Brag. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  171. ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (January 28, 2021). "Jared Leto Says Morbius Crossover With Mahershala Ali's Blade Could Happen in the Future". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  172. ^ Fink, Richard (December 5, 2021). "Morbius' Jared Leto Hints at Sinister Six Spider-Man Connection". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  173. ^ Davis, Erik [@ErikDavis] (December 8, 2021). "New: Tom Holland teases epic fights with Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin in #SpiderManNoWayHome. "The fight scenes we have with Willem in this film are so crazy & so scary that it really was awesome to, like, explore different kind of Spider-Man action."" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021 – via Twitter.
  174. ^ Fiduccia, Christopher (December 21, 2021). "Blade & Morbius Crossover Movie is Possible, Says Spider-Man Producers". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  175. ^ Fuge, Jonathan (March 18, 2022). "Morbius Star Jared Leto Hopes to See a Crossover with Tom Hardy's Venom". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  176. ^ Elvy, Craig (April 26, 2022). "Why Sony Announced Venom 3 Just Weeks After Morbius Embarrassment". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  177. ^ Perine, Aaron (April 26, 2022). "Morbius Trends After Sony Announces El Muerto, but No Morbius Sequel". comicbook.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.