Why Negative ‘Morbius’ Reviews Are Terrible for Superhero Movies
Sony Pictures’ Morbius reviews flood on Rotten Tomatoes, critic pages, and Twitter. However, they have not exactly sung the Spider-Man villain’s praises. Fans have already spread countless memes mocking Sony’s Spider-Man Universe movie, saying Venom looks like a masterpiece compared to the Jared Leto Morbius movie. However, as fans heap on the criticism, the backlash and negative Morbius reviews could affect the whole superhero genre.
‘Morbius’ reviews have criticized almost every aspect of the Spider-Man villain movie
While the recent Marvel movie Spider-Man: No Way Home debuted with an RT score of 100%, Morbius started with an uphill battle at a 16% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Critics and fans have already ripped apart nearly every part of the film more than Morbius the Living Vampire ever could. According to some reviews, the plot was boring, basic, and by-the-books. In others, Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius has been called “useless.”
One shining spot came from Matt Smith as Milo, Morbius’ surrogate brother based on the Marvel Comics villain Loxias Crown. Some outlets even claim that Smith “almost saves” the movie. However, his performance was not enough.
And the internet will definitely have fun clowning on the Sony movie through memes and over-the-top rants. However, if enough backlash reaches Hollywood, it could spell a shift in the superhero genre – and not a good one.
The negative ‘Morbius’ reviews could result in less character diversity
Many called it a gamble when Marvel debuted Iron Man in 2008. Tony Stark did not have the massive franchise-driving name as someone like Batman. However, he was mainstream enough for people to recognize.
However, Guardians of the Galaxy really had their work cut out. Almost no one outside of comic readers knew about Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot, or Rocket Raccoon. However, the massive success of the James Gunn movie pushed Marvel and DC to adapt more obscure comic characters.
Unfortunately, while one bad Batman or Spider-Man movie is a footnote, one bad movie for an obscure character like Morbius can kill their on-screen career completely.
When dumping millions of dollars into a single movie, companies pay attention to feedback like the Morbius reviews. And Hollywood tends to focus on the wrong things.
Instead of saying, “We made a bad movie,” they say, “We chose the wrong character.” The ripple effects lead to companies only taking chances on the same few heroes and villains while other characters never have a shot because they’re not popular enough.
Some superhero sequels have redeemed heroes, villains, and teams
While the negative Morbius reviews across Rotten Tomatoes and the internet could mean the premature end of Jared Leto’s career as the Living Vampire (or even the Venom and Sony Universe), some superhero sequels have actually saved obscure heroes.
Several fans called Captain America: The First Avenger the weakest of the Marvel Phase 1 movies. However, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War cemented Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers as one of the most popular heroes.
DC’s Suicide Squad (also featuring Jared Leto) was similarly torn to shreds by critics. However, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad took the sequel in a totally different direction and placed the Harley Quinn team-up back in the company’s favor.
Hopefully, even if Leto’s Morbius does not meet expectations, Sony can learn and shift the character for a better sequel. Maybe even team up Morbius with Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man.
Fans can watch Morbius in theaters now.
