Comic book and superhero movies have a reputation for being lengthy. Just earlier this year, we saw Zack Snyder’s Justice League get a runtime of 4 hours and 2 minutes. Although this is an extreme example, most comic book movies do stretch well past the 2-hour mark, but, it appears that Sony intends to keep its spin-offs rather short after the official reveal of Morbius’ runtime.
Can Morbius tell an effective story with its runtime?
Marvel Studios’ films almost always tell an effective story. A huge reason for this is runtime. Only a handful of MCU films clock in at under two hours. Furthermore, all of them are at least one hour and 50 minutes long. However, Sony’s spin-offs tend to buck this decades-long trend. The first film in Sony’s cinematic universe, 2018’s Venom, was one hour and 52 minutes. But, the film’s sequel, Let There Be Carnage, was remarkably short (and fast-paced) at just one hour and 37 minutes.
Even though Morbius’ official runtime isn’t quite as short as Let There Be Carnage, it’s still relatively short.
According to Cinemark Theatres’ website, Morbius’ official runtime is just one hour and 48 minutes long. In comparison, the last Marvel Comics film to precede Morbius, Spider-Man: No Way Home, came in at a whopping two hours and 28 minutes as it earned a spot among the lengthiest MCU films to date. We’re only bringing up the MCU again because of the apparent ties between Sony’s upcoming spin-off and Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe.
In a recent trailer, Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius namechecks Venom, who is also connected to the MCU in his way. At the same time, the film will see Michael Keaton will reprise his role as Adrian Toomes or Vulture from Spider-Man’s first MCU solo outing in 2017, Spider-Man: Homecoming. Not to mention, you can also spot Spider-Man in the background of the trailers, albeit we’re not just quite sure which of the three it is referencing.
Unfortunately, Sony has done a great job at keeping important details about Morbius’ under lock and key. The good news is that audiences don’t have to wait too long to find out more about Morbius as it’s set to hit theaters on January 28, 2022.
