If you check out the comments section of any YouTube video related to Marvel, chances are you’ll find a comment that reads, “It’s Morbin’ Time!”
If you’re curious to find out where this meme originated, then it might be time to watch Morbius, the 2022 superhero film that has now found a new port of call.
After a short Netflix stint, Disney is now finally ready to unleash Jared Leto’s brooding incarnation of Dr. Michael Morbius onto Disney+ audiences come March 1. Morbius was originally released by Sony Pictures, which holds the rights to Spider-Man comic book characters.
Now that Disney and Sony have a multi-year deal that grants Disney access to Sony’s 2022 – 2026 theatrical releases post-Netflix’s streaming window, Morbius can now join Venom, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on Disney+.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa and penned by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, Morbius tells the tale of a man both blessed and cursed, walking the thin line between savior and monster. With a rare blood disorder gnawing at his existence, Morbius’s gamble on a cure veers into dark territories, unleashing an inner demon whose lust for blood is insatiable.
With a cast comprising Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Jared Harris, and Tyrese Gibson, hopes were high that the film would introduce vampires into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe in a way that audiences hadn’t seen before. Unfortunately, the reception for Morbius was disappointing, to say the least.
With a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a $167 million global box office tally, which is surprisingly double its production budget of $80 million, Marvel discovered that replicating the success of the Blade trilogy was no easy feat.
Still, there have been numerous cases of films performing much better on streaming services than in theaters. For example, Eternals. Despite being one of the worst-reviewed MCU films, Eternals managed to attract over 2 million US households within five days of its premiere on Disney+.
This is not to say that Morbius‘ move to Disney+ will change how audiences feel about the film. However, there’s a likelihood that casual viewers who didn’t get a chance to watch Morbius in theaters and on Netflix might have a vastly different opinion about it as opposed to MCU fans, whose standards are undoubtedly higher.
