While “Madame Web” became the latest disaster of the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, “Morbius” is at least enjoying some kind of resurgence on streaming. The film, starring Jared Leto as the titular vampire, is currently the tenth most-watched on Disney+ in the US, according to FlixPatrol.
The film stars Leto as Michael Morbius, a biochemist who becomes a lethal vampire after attempting to cure himself from a rare disease. Matt Smith, Adria Arjona and Jared Harris complete the cast. “Morbius” grossed $167.5 million at the global box office, not meeting the expectations to expand the franchise. However, for better or worse, the character became an Internet meme.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is still expanding despite the terrible results, both commercially and critically. While Tom Hardy’s “Venom” franchise at least is popular among audiences, the other experiments haven’t resonated with fans, not even the most comic-book obsessed.
Sony: What is next in the Spider-Man Universe?
It’s true that “Morbius” was a disaster in every aspect: a failed box office, a C+ CinemaScore from audiences and a 15 percent approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, “Madame Web,” which premiered on Feb. 15, was even worse: 13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, has barely grossed $91 million worldwide (against a $81 million budget) and also received a C+ CinemaScore.
However, Sony will still try to find a successful (aka, bankable) character among their gallery of options from the Spider-Man Universe. And their next attempt will be ‘Kraven The Hunter,’ which will be portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
The film, directed by J.C. Chandor, is set to premiere on August 30th. Apart from Taylor-Johnson, it stars Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, and Russell Crowe.
The script was written by Richard Wenk and the writing team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Wenk is known for his work in reputable franchises such as The Equalizer film series (2014–2023), while Marcum and Holloway were behind Marvel’s success “Iron Man.”
