While the MCU is looking ahead to imminent new releases in Moon Knight and Doctor Strange 2, the next Marvel outing on the docket is Sony Pictures' Morbius. Set to debut on April 1, Jared Leto's first Marvel outing looks to give Sony's Spider-Man Universe a thrilling new anti-hero after two solo movies for Tom Hardy's Venom. Unfortunately, Morbius has seen its fair share of problems, which date back quite some time.
Fans have waited for seemingly an eternity for the movie to release, with filming having finished nearly three full years ago before facing six different delays to its release date. While this was largely due to the state of flux for all blockbusters thanks to the pandemic, things don't look so great for the general reception for Morbius ahead of its world premiere.
Rumors are already indicating that critics are disappointed with the film as a whole, which is largely due to a reportedly inconsistent plot and a general sense of boredom in the story. Now, some of those reviews are making their way into the public, and they don't stray too far from the feeling that the film is letting many viewers down.
Early Morbius Reviews from Disappointed Fans
The first reviews arrived on Twitter for Sony Pictures' Morbius, which debuts in theaters on April 1. The general consensus is one of disappointment from the first fans to see this new superhero movie.
Collider's @sab_astley bluntly called the movie "as bad as you were expecting" for a number of reasons. From complaints about the CGI to comparisons to action movies from generations past, he couldn't find anything good to say about the third SSMU outing:
"Well, Morbius is about as bad as you were expecting. A 2005 plot collides with visually confusing CGI to create a bit of a snooze fest. But don't worry, they've saved the worst for last. Featuring some of the worst post credits scenes you've EVER seen, Sony are off their rocker."
Wolf of Geek Street's @RenGeekness praised the performances from Matt Smith and Oliver Wood, but he admitted that the movie as a whole resulted in "complete incoherence:"
"In Morbius Matt Smith gloriously hams up the place and Oliver Wood delivers some visual flare to the action sequences. Aside from that, the bad plotting & messy cgi, confusing editing & worse sound mix result in absolute incoherence But the post-credits manage to out do it all"
@Martin_Meehan shared a GIF of Thumper from Disney's animated movie Bambi along with the quote "if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all" as his reaction:
Unfortunately, after seeing a preview screening, these are my thoughts on #Morbius 🤐 pic.twitter.com/eLCgK0DPYa
@CamzoOG described Morbius as "disjointed and boring" while lamenting the fact that Sony didn't seem to know what to do with the project. He also called the mid-credits scene "a joke," but recommended that fans check it out for an eye-roll moment:
"Morbius is just as disjointed and boring as you expected it to be. Clearly butchered in an edit by a studio who had no clue what they wanted to do with it - not that there's a good film trapped in there. Mid credits are a joke but stick around if you like rolling your eyes"
Nicola Austin also compared the movie to action films from the 2000s, but she said it wasn't "as fun as Venom" either. She's confused looking at Sony's future with its Spider-Man movies, although she could tell how much Matt Smith enjoyed his time on screen:
"Well Morbius is unfortunately not great (some really shoddy vfx & 00s formulaic plot) & definitely not as fun as Venom. Really confused at the future of the Sony Spiderverse following the post-credits scenes & the editing. Matt Smith is clearly having a blast though!"
Morbius Has Marvel Fans Upset to Start
Even though Morbius has faced more than its fair share of problems, fans were at least hoping for a fun outing at the movies similar to Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Unfortunately, based solely on these early reviews, Morbius doesn't even live up to that standard, as fans find out what Jared Leto and the team brought to life.
It's unclear how the new Sony solo film will set up the future for this franchise, even with notable potential ties to MCU and non-MCU outings alike. Previous ads already dropped Venom's name from Tom Hardy's solo movies, while fans also wait to find out how Michael Keaton's Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming will make his mark on the story.
While these reviews are certainly disheartening, anticipation is slowly building to see what Sony developed as Leto takes on his second superhero franchise. Hopefully, the movie will defy the odds and make an impact as another favorable superhero movie, although the early signs don't look promising.
Morbius will debut in theaters on April 1.
