Morbius made its long-delayed appearance in theaters on April 1st, 2022—marking the third film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU), following Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Just like how Sony created a new origin story for Venom, Morbius is also an origin story. However, elements of the multiverse have been teased in Morbius and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, potentially linking SSU with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in the future.
Morbius follows Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), a scientist who suffers from a rare blood disease. Morbius’ lifelong goal is to find a cure for his disease, lest others suffer his same fate. However, in his desperation for a cure, he splices his genes with the genes from vampire bats. While the experiment leads to a cure, it also turns him into a living vampire with superhuman strength, healing powers, and flight abilities. Additionally, he is filled with an insatiable blood lust that horrifies even himself.
Although Morbius was never one of Spider-Man‘s greatest villains, such as Venom, Mysterio, Green Goblin, etc., fans still anticipated his film as a deep and dark dive into a nuanced character. Unfortunately, Morbius missed its mark quite drastically. The film has received largely negative reviews and scored a weak 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. While Leto and Matt Smith do their best to hold up the film, it isn’t quite enough. Many thought the movie was disorganized and uninspired, with surface-level characters and a bland story.
When will Morbius be available to stream?
With that being said, there still have been some favorable reviews from audiences. Additionally, Morbius does still hold the typical Easter eggs and post-credits scenes that attract Marvel fans. Meanwhile, with these iffy reviews, more individuals may choose to skip the theater and wait for Morbius to hit streaming.
Morbius had an exclusively theatrical release, meaning it is not available on streaming yet. However, Sony recently struck a deal with Netflix, allowing Netflix to stream all of the 2022 film releases. This means that Sony’s films, including Morbius, will hit Netflix before they appear on any other streaming service. Such news is good for Netflix subscribers, as they won’t have to pay additional movey to stream the film, as is often required by other streaming services.
While we know Morbius is coming to Netflix, neither Netflix nor Sony has confirmed its release date. However, Netflix and Sony’s deal is what is known as a “pay-one window.” It’s a concept that has been expanding since the Covid-19 pandemic and marks the film’s first exclusive release window following its theatrical run. Typically, films hit this window within 6 – 9 months. Morbius’ poor reception could potentially quicken its journey to streaming. However, if it follows the typical pattern, the earliest it will make its way to Netflix would be around October of 2022.
(featured image: Sony Pictures)
