If ironic appreciation was a barometer of proving a movie’s popularity, then Morbius is without a doubt one of 2022’s very best, even if that wasn’t the intention of anyone involved with the disastrous Marvel Comics adaptation.
Not content to flop at the box office once, Sony actually mistook the outpouring of memes and mockery for genuine enthusiasm, sending Jared Leto’s debut as the Living Vampire out to die on the vine for a second time. Since then, everyone has tried to block Morbius from their collective memory, to the extent that nobody even wanted to steal it.
Variety has unveiled the list of 2022’s most-pirated films, and there isn’t a bloodsucking superheroic vampire to be found. It’s official; we live in a world where even the mere prospect of breaking the law in the name of Morbius was deemed to be crossing a line, which neatly sums up the film’s reputation as a whole.
Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man: No Way Home emerged as the number one illicitly-downloaded blockbuster of the year, with The Batman and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ensuring all three spots went to comic book flicks. That’s a completely expected development, albeit one that makes it all the funnier that Morbius couldn’t even crack the Top 10.
Not that we’re encouraging anyone not to pay for the pleasure of seeing a feature film, but you can understand if we make an exception for Morbius. Seeing it once is bad enough, but anyone who suffered through multiple viewings is an altogether different matter.