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Morbius, the upcoming Sony film starring Jared Leto as the living vampire from the Marvel Comics, has been postponed, according to Sony Pictures via Variety. Originally set to hit theaters on January 28, the film has been pushed back to April 1, 2022 a delay that’s nearly three months.
According to the report:
In its new release date, “Morbius” will face off against “Easter Sunday,” a comedy with Jimmy O. Yang and Tiffany Haddish, as well as the Chris Pine thriller “The Contractor.”
Sony just scored massive box office successes with both “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” so it makes sense that it would try to give “Morbius” a longer runway at a time when the public health situation is complicating things. The studio is also planning another standalone spinoff based on Spidey villain Kraven the Hunter, so the stakes are high. Sony licenses the Spider-Man character and the rights to his various antagonists and allies from Marvel in a deal that pre-dates the comic book company’s major move into moviemaking and its acquisition by the Walt Disney Company.
In the film, Jared Leto plays antihero Michael Morbius, who attempts a desperate gamble in order to treat a rare blood discoed, one that makes him more familiar with a darkness inside of him. “Morbius” was directed by Daniel Espinosa and co-stars Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson.
Morbius has had a lengthy path to release with its original release date set for July 2020, however it was pushed back to March 2021, then October 8, 2021, January 21, 2022, January 28, 2022, and now April 1, 2022. The latest trailer, released in November, hinted at a connection with the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as crossovers with Sony’s Spider-Man. The comic book version of the character Michael Morbius is a scientist who tries to cure his rare blood disease by using bat DNA, but becomes a vampire in the process.
Some are speculating that the massive success of the multiverse crossing No Way Home has convinced the suits at Sony to lean into that aspect and bring Morbius deeper into their ever expanding Spider-Verse. It could be very disappointing for Spider-Man fans and Venom fans if Morbius only shows that poster of Spider-Man in an alley or only features a single cameo from Michael Keaton’s Vulture, without more tie-in to Sony’s biggest film of all time that apparently exists in the same shared universe as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man (and now Tom Hardy’s Venom).
Furthermore, No Way Home is still doing gangbusters business, so why syphon off those Spidey fans with a film that may have very little to do with Tom Holland’s universe, and could potentially stop Spider-Man’s momentum? Industry watchers however, see this as a strictly financial accounting decision and to give the movies a bit more breathing space.
Pushing #Morbius to April seems like a pure Covid move but Sony’s Q1 is already flush with Spidey cash and its Q2 was pretty bare. This likely makes Japan happier.
— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) January 4, 2022
Cynical, or spot-on? We’ll (hopefully) know more if another trailer comes out, or we hear word of some reshoots, or at least by April 1, 2022. This had better not be a bad April Fool’s joke…
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