After waiting for so long, Marvel's Morbius has finally made his silver screen debut. The results have been more than a little disappointing to most, with it currently sitting at a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. It hasn't just been that the movie is the lowest-rated Spider-Man movie, but it's described as boring, which in some cases is worse because a bad movie is at least memorable.
Some movies, such as Tommy Wiseau's The Room (2003), Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997), are so terrible that they have become famous in their own right simply for that reason. Despite how bad they are, many are still worth watching, if only for a laugh. On the other hand, it was a widespread April Fool's Day prank this year to say that Morbius changed Martin Scorsese's mind about MCU films.
Reviews aside, there was more at stake to the character of Michael Morbius than simply having his own movie. Along with Sony's 2018 film Venom, Morbius was meant to be Sony's sort of jumping-off point for their shared Spider-Man universe. Kind of similar to what Disney and Marvel Studios are doing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but with just Spider-Man characters. In addition to 2018's Venom, 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and 2022's Morbius, 2023 is set to see the release of Kraven the Hunter, a movie based on one of Spider-Man's admittedly more popular villains. Even if Kraven the Hunter does well, however, the character Morbius has already shown himself to be dead in the water (ironic since he is a vampire), so if a shared movie universe of Spider-Man villains does become a thing, where would Morbius fit into it now? There is an answer to this question, but sadly it may not be what fans want to happen.
Never the Most Popular Villain
If one were, out of curiosity, to go to Google and type in “list of Spider-Man's best villains” or something along those lines, that person would undoubtedly get a myriad of results from many reputable sources. Unfortunately for Michael Morbius, however, he is likely not on any of those lists. If he is, he probably ranks very low next to some of the heavy hitters like Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, or Kraven the Hunter (ironically). While certainly an interesting character with a unique backstory and abilities that make him vampire-like, but not a real vampire, Michael Morbius has never been one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies or even greatest allies when the need calls for it.
Indeed, some of the most successful comic book runs that Michael Morbius has ever been in have involved team-ups with other characters, such as the 1993 crossover comic Maximum Carnage, which was more of a story about Spider-Man, Venom, and Carnage, with Morbius himself being mostly along for the ride. Sadly that has been more or less Morbius' role in the more successful comic runs he has appeared in. Always along for the ride, never really the center of attention.
Is Michael Morbius Necessary for Sony & Marvel's Future?
Because Michael Morbius has never been one of Spider-Man's most popular villains, and he was always “along for the ride” in the more popular comic book runs he has been in, he is sadly not a necessary character for either Sony or Marvel's plan for a shared universe of characters. Even if Sony is building up to something big like what Disney and Marvel Studios did with The Avengers in 2012, there is no major reason why Michael Morbius needs to be part of it. Sadly, he could very easily be replaced by a more popular character. It is easy to understand that Sony was trying to give a relatively unknown character a chance to shine in the spotlight, but sometimes those chances do not always pan out. If by some miracle, however, Jared Leto does return to play Michael Morbius for a future movie, it likely will not be another movie titled Morbius.
If Sony really does want the character Michael Morbius to appear in any of their future movies, the best thing they could likely do for the character right now is what Marvel comic book writers have done with him in the comics for years. That, sadly, being just let him come along for the ride. He doesn't have to be a central character, and the story doesn't necessarily need to involve him. Still, Michael Morbius can tag along with the other, more prominent names if Sony truly wants to make him feel special. Unfortunately, that is probably the best chance the character has at ever returning to the silver screen.