Sony has the rights to makeSpider-Manmovies, but thanks to a deal with Marvel, Spider-Man and his associated characters are mostly sticking to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Spider-Man himself busy with the MCU, Sony has decided to make movies about Spider-Man’s rogues gallery instead, starting withVenomand its sequel.TheVenommovies earned mostly negative reviews, but both turned out to be hits at the box office. The same can’t really be said for theMorbiusmovie starring Jared Leto in the title role.
Morbiuswasn’t exactly a box office bomb, but the $163.8 million it earned at the box office is very low for a comic book movie from a major studio in this day and age. The lack of interest inMorbiuscan likely be chalked up to a variety of factors, like Morbius himself not being a big money-drawing character when removed from Spider-Man, and the widespread negative reviews that the film received upon its release.
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Many people who normally see comic book movies did not go watchMorbius, and the general apathy towards the film has inspired one of 2022’s biggest memes.Morbiusmemes have spread through the Internet like wildfire, coming up with hilarious fake quotes like “It’s Morbin' time” and making up moments in the movie that didn’t actually happen. This meme culture surroundingMorbiusseemingly inspired Sony to re-release the movie after its theatrical run had mostly ended, though the return was a flop, earning only a few hundred thousand dollars.
Morbius Petition
Sony seemed to think that theMorbiusmemes and the Internet’s obsession with the movie would equate to box office returns, but that clearly wasn’t the case. To keep the meme going, Ian Hinden has created a petition demandingMorbiuscome back to theaters for a third time, declaring “We Were All Busy That Weekend.” TheChange.org petitionis blowing up, with over 10,000 signatures at the time of this writing and more added with every refresh.
The petition explains that all theMorbiusfans were to busy to go see the film in theaters again during its re-release, with some busy washing their hair, studying, or they “just already made other plans.” The petition then asks Sony to just letMorbiusfans know if it decides tobringMorbiusback to theatersfor a third time, and they’ll “be there for sure. Unless something comes up.”
It seems unlikely that the petition will convince Sony to bringMorbiusback to theaters for a third time, but it will be interesting to see if all this does convince the studio to move ahead with a sequel or otherwise bring Jared Leto back as Morbius. TheMorbiusafter-credits scenecertainly sets up a sequel, but considering theMorbius' lackluster box office performance and the film’s many negative reviews, it’s hard to see a viable future for it.
