We’re just ten weeks away from the release of Morbius, the second installment in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters and also one of the most anticipated movies of 2021, a lofty status that’s raised a lot of questions among certain sections of the internet.
The comic book blockbuster was originally scheduled for last July before being shifted as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, but long before the impact of COVID-19 brought the theatrical industry to its knees, there was certainly some doubt surrounding Morbius‘ chances of success, even during the typically lucrative summer months.
Jared Leto is a phenomenal actor in the right projects, but he’s also a very polarizing presence in the wrong ones, while the title character doesn’t boast much in the way of name recognition among general audiences. The footage looks similar to Venom in that it feels ripped straight out of a superhero film from fifteen years ago with suitably unconvincing effects, but at least the SPUMC’s first movie had the benefit of Tom Hardy and his eccentrically sweaty performance as Eddie Brock to rely on.
It seems very unlikely that the box office will have rebounded to any sort of significant degree by the time Morbius arrives on March 19th, but insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Sony are already pushing for a potential follow-up to be R-rated.
Sequels are often quietly placed into active development long before the hopeful franchise starter itself hits the big screen, and at this stage, the Living Vampire’s solo debut could really go either way with both audiences and critics, but at least the studio isn’t making the same mistakes as before by announcing locked-in release dates in a brazen show of overconfidence that came back to haunt them.