Sony are once again hedging their bets on an interconnected superhero franchise, despite the relative failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 already causing them to abandon the idea once before and strike the unprecedented licensing agreement with Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, which led to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker becoming an integral part of the MCU.
This time they’ll have to do it without their most marketable asset, though, because while details of the new deal signed last summer haven’t been made clear, most people are operating under the impression that Marvel will handle solo Spidey movies, even though Holland will still show up in the SPUMC from time to time.
Venom was a monster hit that raked in over $850 million and this summer’s sequel Let There Be Carnage is poised to do big business, too, but there are no guarantees that Morbius will experience a similar level of success. The title hero is far from a household name, Jared Leto isn’t a box office draw, the only buzz the trailers generated were from Michael Keaton’s surprise cameo to tease an MCU connection, and between them, the four credited writers have been responsible for the likes of Transformers: The Last Knight, Men in Black: International, The Last Witch Hunter and Gods of Egypt.
However, Morbius has nonetheless been named as one of the most anticipated movies of 2021, and naturally the internet has thoughts, as you can see from the reactions below.
https://twitter.com/chance_second/status/1345563671565537283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1345563671565537283%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fmorbius-anticipated-film-2021-fans-debate%2F
Me: I need a vaccine!
Doctor: For the coronavirus?
Me: No – for Morbius Mania! https://t.co/IyNgwwfPOk— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) January 3, 2021
Morbius the Living Vampire picks up a copy of Variety. https://t.co/p9cIr9iPgF pic.twitter.com/3dZdAG4MWo
— Ken Lowery (@kenlowery) January 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/BaraPinkRanger/status/1345568201107763201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1345568201107763201%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Fmorbius-anticipated-film-2021-fans-debate%2F
Feeling old when you see #Morbius trending and all you can think of is pic.twitter.com/doKxmcfCHV
— John Laurentiev (@jlnmi) January 3, 2021
people really must be desperate if Morbius, starring Jared Leto, is one of the most anticipated films https://t.co/zWDVHBF7ME
— Born in the USA (Insult) (@PrettyBadLefty) January 3, 2021
MORBIUS IS TRENDING so true everybody stan the sexy vampire pic.twitter.com/BiP1lT8prM
— madi ☠︎ (@ASTR0ZOMBIEZ) January 3, 2021
Sad to see so much hate in the replies for a true polymath and renaissance man. I'm excited to see how he applies his unique perspective to shape this project. https://t.co/0WAnP2JycK
— Sturgeon's Law (@Sturgeons_Law) January 3, 2021
ratio with literally nothing because Morbius looks like another soulless cashgrab and will probably be one of the worst films of 2021 https://t.co/g5BRRWnE0F
— MG (@mgonmovies) January 3, 2021
At this stage, Morbius could either be a major hit or a huge bomb, and if it turns out to be the latter, then the SPUMC is already in real danger of collapsing, leaving Venom as its only viable property just three movies in.