Warning: contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #900!
Even Spider-Man makes fun of the Morbius film in the first acknowledgement of the box office bomb in Marvel comics. Sony’s long-delayed film starring Jared Leto is one of the rare films to flop twice; the company’s ill-advised attempt to capitalize on Morbius internet memes resulted in the film only bringing in $300,000 during a re-release in American theaters (and roughly $40,000,000 on opening weekend). Now in Amazing Spider-Man #900, Peter Parker (and Marvel writers by proxy) point out the mediocre critical and commercial reception of the Living Vampire’s first film.
Spider-Man’s 900th issue is a massive 90-page book with four stories. The first, firmly rooted in modern-day continuity, involves Peter being hated for an unknown event (the main draw of his 2022 story arc), an team-up with and eventual betrayal by the Sinister Six, and a realization about Spider-Man’s main draw: despite committing many, many mistakes during his lifetime, he will always make an effort to learn from them. Other stories include a flashback to a ruined prom night, a run-in with Jimmy Kimmel, and an effort to return dozens of overdue library books – each containing subtle and not-so-subtle jokes about the webslinger’s past.
In the story Better Late Than Never, written by Daniel Kibblesmith with art by David Lopez, Peter dashes to the library to return the many books he’s borrowed over the years – and much to the librarian’s chagrin, comments on every single one. The comments are derived from in-jokes, non-sequiturs and Peter’s own literary tastes. One book, Vampires: Myth and Reality, only gets a small “Reviewed were mixed” comment from Peter, but the message is quite clear to those familiar with Morbius’ short history in theaters: even Peter Parker found the film intolerable.
The history of Morbius’ creation is perhaps more interesting than the in-universe story of the character himself: before the 1970s, vampires and other similar creatures were forbidden from appearing in comics by the Comics Code Authority. In 1971, this ban was lifted, and Morbius appeared in October in Amazing Spider-Man #101. Thus, Marvel capitalized on an opportunity to obtain the first post-CCA vampire villain; Stan Lee considered bringing Dracula to the book before deciding on a unique costumed villain instead. Morbius’ first appearance involved a battle between himself and Spider-Man – a narrative the Morbius solo film committed entirely, perhaps due to the unavailability of Spider-Man actor Tom Holland.
Morbius was a rather mediocre film according to critics and audiences, but the online discourse embraced the ironic praise; criticism gave way to memes and an idealized Morbius film that only exists in the minds of Marvel fans. But the character, while not as recognizable as Doctor Octopus or the Green Goblin, has a storied history. Morbius could be interesting in a sequel installment, but for now, this Spider-Man villain is currently little more than a joke (both in-universe and otherwise).
