Was Morbius doomed from the start? The director of Marvel’s most clowned-on film reveals why he thinks the film had an uphill battle before it even hit theaters.
Oceans of ink have been spilled over the tragedy of Morbius. It’s hard to find new words to say about the tragedy of errors that proved to people that Marvel was far from infallible. The film was panned the moment it was announced, cursed with a controversial casting choice for its lead role that didn’t get fans excited in the first place.
Things got even worse when Morbius hit theaters. It had one of the worst Rotten Tomatoes scores for any Marvel project in history, not to mention a terrible box office. Of course, it didn’t flop once, but twice, with executives being fooled to put the film back in theaters after fans vowed to get the film to a “Morbillion” dollars.
Morbius Was Doomed From The Start
Some Marvel fans have looked back at Morbius with a soft sadness. There are those who believe the film could have been salvaged at some point in production, making it a truly great hidden gem for the franchise. However, it seems not even the director agrees, admitting that he just wasn’t the right fit for a superhero project.
“Yes,” director Daniel Espinosa told Deadline when asked if he suffered making Morbius. “To make a movie through committee, I think, is very hard, and I felt in the end that maybe a different director would have been a better fit. I’m known amongst the studios to be a person with a lot of opinions, and maybe they were not looking for that kind of director.”
It’s clear that Marvel (or more specifically, Sony) didn’t learn from the director’s experience on Morbius. Sony Pictures rammed their head into a wall once more with the release of Madame Web. Luckily for fans, it seems that film flopped so badly that it killed their entire plan for more movies.
Morbius is available on all home media formats. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news regarding Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man films, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
