Marvel’s Newest is Everything but Marvelous

Guillermo Echevarria, Writer

Marvel introduced its latest character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe April 1, and quite honestly, it would be in their best interest to claim it as an April fools prank.

The film, lasting nearly two hours, felt like it lasted an eternity. Starring Jared Leto as the title character,  Dr. Morbius, the action film follows a brilliant madman who is dangerously ill with an incurable blood disease. As Dr. Morbius struggles to survive, he takes a massive gamble when resorting to vampire bats for a cure.

That’s how simple it is to explain the premise of this movie, but director Daniel Espinosa had other plans. In the first ten minutes we are introduced to multiple unknown characters, in an unknown location, with an unknown contraption presumably made for trapping an unknown target.

It is apparent from the start that the movie’s pacing is an issue. Unfortunately for the viewers, the oddly fast pacing which seems to leave out key details does not ever improve. In addition to speeding past key moments and going oddly slow on what seem like unnecessary details, the characters have no charm or any reason for the viewer to like them.

The antihero Morbius grew harder and harder to bear as the movie went on. I get it—you’ll die if you don’t consume human blood. It seemed like the movie writers hit a block after coming to the great idea of making Morbius require human blood instead of just any blood. Espinosa felt the need to sprinkle in reminders throughout the entirety of two hours like we don’t know the basic needs of a vampire.

Now, when we talk about hateable characters, it doesn’t get much worse than Loxias “Milo” Crown. Milo, played by Matt Smith, spends the first half of the movie trying to get the cure Morbius created because he too has the deadly blood disease. Once he acquires it, he tries to kill Morbius because Morbius won’t let others take the cure. Oh, did I mention they’re also best friends.

Milo, having a weirdly large ego, does not stop making cheesy remarks that make you want to close your ears whenever he talks. During a certain point in the movie, you forget why Morbius and Milo are even fighting.

If you overlook the questionable writing, the odd pacing, and the obnoxious characters, the movie will most likely provide some context into future Marvel movies. Along with the 2018 movie Venom, Morbius opens the door for Marvel in terms of villains from the original comics never before seen in the modern MCU.

The film was anticipated for around two years but had multiple delays due to COVID 19. Even with the extra couple years, the special effects, CGI, and editing did not impress. If you are someone who likes superhero movies because of their intricate scenes and beautiful pictures, Morbius is not for you.

Needless to say, Morbius is not a good portrayal of Marvel movies and the MCU as a whole. Without even touching on the questionable acting, the use of blue-colored blood instead of red blood to keep the movie PG-13 rather than R rated, and a scene used in the trailer that didn’t even make the final cut, it is clear that Morbius is a bad movie. Watch this movie if you have nothing else to do for two hours and are mildly interested in Marvel. I give the movie a 3.6/10