Morbius has finally arrived in theaters and things already don't appear to be going well. Jared Leto's vampire debut opened to the worst Thursday night box office haul since The New Mutants, which followed weeks of critical negativity and signs of the same from general audiences. Despite that, Morbius still managed to earn itself a mediocre 67% Rotten Tomatoes audience score at the time of writing.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe has always struggled to land with critics, as was proven by the Rotten status given to both Venom movies, and yet they seemed to land well with audiences. Tom Hardy's Symbiote blockbusters have proven popular among fans, with Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage raking in an impressive box office haul, leading to plans for a third installment.
Unfortunately, the same doesn't seem to be true for Morbius as it has received a less-than-stellar audience rating.
Morbius Ranks Second-Worst in Marvel Movie History
Sony Pictures' Morbius officially received a C+ CinemaScore rating upon its recent theatrical release, meaning it ranks tied second-worst of all-time among Marvel movies, above only 2015's Fantastic Four.
The unfortunate rating places Jared Leto's vampire flick on equal footing with the same grade as Batman and Robin, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and Spawn.
On a slightly more positive note, Morbius still managed to get a better score than 2015's Fantastic Four (C-), Hellboy (C), and Superman IV: The Quest of Peace (C).
CinemaScore polls moviegoers straight out of the theaters to determine an average audience appeal rating, which can range between A+ and F.
Other Marvel movie CinemaScore scores include:
- Spider-Man: No Way Home - A+
- Avengers: Infinity War - A
- Black Widow - A-
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage - B+
- Eternals - B
- X-Men: Dark Phoenix - B-
- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - C+
- Fantastic Four (2015) - C-
Audiences Are Not Loving Morbius
Morbius was widely panned by critics before release, and online buzz among fans hasn't exactly been the hottest either. That said, it shouldn't come as a surprise that moviegoers aren't exactly loving the latest in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Despite the poor critical reception, early indications were looking positive for Morbius' fan reception as it currently sits at a 67% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes - compared to 17% from critics. Sony previously suffered a drastic critic-audience divide with Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, both of which seemed to land well with moviegoers despite intense negativity from reviewers.
Having an audience rating that only managed to surpass the universally despised Fantastic Four (2015) won't do Morbius any favors at the box office going forward. The Thursday night previews were already looking less than impressive for Leto's Marvel debut, and poor word-of-mouth discussions will no doubt only lead to a decline in the weeks to come.
Morbius is playing now in theaters around the world.
