February 28 Will Be A Big Day For Fans Of Bad Comic Book Movies

Morbius will be getting a third chance to prove its Vampire worth again — or lack thereof — to first-timers and its few lovers come February on Max. Following the release of Kraven: The Hunter, Morbius has now arguably secured its place as the least disastrous entry in Sony’s short-lived six-film Spider-Man Universe.

It is now common knowledge — if it wasn’t before — that the villain-centric franchise is a failure, with only the Venom entries seeing modest critical and commercial success. Morbius’ status as a box office flop is paired with the significant clout it maintains among comic book fans, albeit for the wrong reasons. Its unintended meme status justified a theatrical re-release just two months after its initial run.

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After a disappointing box office run and a tidal wave of memes, Morbius went back to theaters. Unsurprisingly, it went much worse.

What Happens in Morbius?

It’s a Modern Vampire Story

Jared Leto plays Dr. Michael Morbius, a Nobel-honoree scientist (though he declined the award) who becomes a vampire after a genuine experiment to cure the rare blood disease he suffers from goes awry. The experiment? Capturing vampire bats from a Costa Rican forest and splicing their DNA with human DNA, an endeavor he undertakes with the financial and moral backing of his childhood friend, Milo, played by Matt Smith — the Briton’s biggest role before Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon — who has the same disease. Morbius develops a serum which is supposed to cure his ailment. It does, and with some bonuses too: a muscular build, and heightened senses, including echolocation abilities. But it also comes with a hefty price: an insatiable thirst for blood.

Determined to resist his monstrous urges, Morbius relies on the artificial blood he created beforehand, but its effectiveness wanes. Meanwhile, Milo, eager for the same power, takes the serum against Morbius’ warnings and fully embraces his vampiric nature and subsequently goes on a killing spree. This forces Morbius into a confrontation with his old friend, culminating in a final battle where he ultimately defeats Milo using an anti-vampirism serum. There are no mentions of Spider-Man in Morbius save for the post-credits scenes where Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes (Vulture) blames Spider-Man for his mysterious entry into another universe and hints at a Sinister Six team-up with Morbius.

What Is Happening With Morbius on February 28?

The last day of February will be another chance for comic book fans to appreciate or once more deride one of the most panned comic book movies of the decade. And they can do this from the comfort of their homes when Morbius becomes available for streaming on Max. With its addition, Morbius expands Max’s growing film lineup, which already includes popular titles like A Different Man starring Sebastian Stan, the 2016 action-comedy Keeping Up With the Joneses featuring Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot, and the fan-favorite crime thriller Den of Thieves.

How Was Morbius Received?

It Failed to Double Its Budget at the Box Office and Had Record-Low Ratings

Where it mattered most to Sony — on the box office front — Morbius was a financial disaster and the first of such in its Spider-Man franchise. Data from Box Office Mojo reveals that Morbius only managed to gross $167.4 million globally, $73 million of which came from North America. This was against a production budget of $75 million. Despite debuting at the top of the North American box office, its second weekend saw a catastrophic -73.8% drop — the steepest among superhero flicks at the time. That was until it was pushed down the ladder by The Marvels and subsequently, Joker Folie à Deux. Thankfully for Morbius, it doesn’t sport the least box office numbers in its franchise. That unwanted record belongs to Kraven the Hunter’s $60.9 million haul.

Morbius didn’t please critics and the comic book community either. While a small subset of fans cherishes it, the majority don’t. The film’s rating makes its poor box office performance not seem so bad. Poor-to-modest CGI and skin-deep character development amounted to a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Again, while this is the lowest among comic book movies, it is not the lowest in Sony’s franchise — Madame Web holds an abysmal 11%. For Jared Leto, it is his second unsuccessful attempt in the comic book sphere after his version of Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad received backlash, although to be fair, the things wrong with Morbius do not include Leto in it.

Morbius Lives on as a Meme

“It’s Morbin’ Time”

Morbius and its sister movies are dead, but the former lives on in the internet’s chaotic world of memes. Most bad movies become recognized years later (for example, The Room). In Morbius’ case, it took mere weeks. Social media was abuzz with phrases mocking the film’s “indestructible” nature at the box office, such as “It’s Morbin’ Time” and “Morbiussweep.” But this clout failed to translate into box office success or a second chance via a sequel.

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