Sony's much-maligned superhero movie Morbius has climbed into Netflix's Top 10 movies... is the Jared Leto-led movie finally finding its fans?
For those not in the know, Morbius is the latest installment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe. The movie wasn't exactly received well the first time around, but it's now claimed the number two spot in Netflix UK's Top 10 movies, suggesting it might be getting a second chance.
At the time of writing, that means the only movie getting more interest on the platform is Lift, the new Netflix heist movie starring Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Vincent D'Onofrio. Morbius' ranking is particularly impressive when you consider it's ranking well ahead of some acclaimed releases, including the recently released movie Society of the Snow, a real-life thriller that's already getting Oscar nods, and Denis Villeneuve's six-time Oscar-winning sci-fi epic, Dune.
The movie follows Dr. Michael Morbius (played by Jared Leto), a scientist who suffers from a rare blood disease. After injecting himself with an experimental serum to try and cure his condition, he gains all the superhuman abilities (and the thirst for blood) associated with vampires.
In addition to Leto in the title role, the movie features House of the Dragon star Matt Smith as Morbius' surrogate brother, Lucien, a figure who wholly embraces his vampiric powers after gaining them. Further stars include Adria Arjona as Dr. Martine Bancroft, Jared Harris as Dr Emil Nicholas, and Tyrese Gibson as Simon Stroud.
Netflix is often where movies get a second chance at finding their audience; a Liam Neeson thriller that flopped at the box office managed to snap up the number one spot just last month. However, even though plenty of people are checking it out, Morbius might have a tougher time being reappraised by newcomers, judging by the critical reaction the movie received first time around.
At the time of writing, it has a 15% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, from a collection of more than 250 reviews. In What To Watch's Morbius review, our writer found little to praise; they called it 'a bland, poorly directed, poorly written mess of bad VFX and shoddy editing that wastes its otherwise talented cast on a movie that can't even be enjoyed for camp appeal'. Yikes.
Some viewers must have found something to like about Morbius, though, as the RT audience rating for Morbius is significantly higher and currently sits at 71%. Sony also still believes in the SSU, too, as the franchise is due at least two more installments, with both Madame Web (fronted by Dakota Johnson and Anyone But You's Sydney Sweeney) and Kraven the Hunter (starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson) due to hit theaters later this year.
Morbius is now streaming on Netflix. Already streamed it, or looking for some Netflix inspiration? Check out our recommendations for the best Netflix shows we think you should be streaming right now. And if you're looking for more info about all the big releases coming your way, check out our guide to the new movies releasing in 2024.
