Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless
Anti-heroes are common nowadays because they embody the tropes of chaotic neutral characters who are trying to contain themselves from being the monster they are. These characters play by their own rules and try their best to not hurt others in being the rebels they are. Venom is a recent popular character played to perfection by Tom Hardy. In this case of the symbiote we have two distinct personalities vying for control. With Dr. Morbius we just have a single personality dealing with the thirst for blood as the cure to his physical condition and the moral compass of not killing people for blood. The struggle is there in the plot, but the devil is always in the details. Details that this film left out.
Here comes the spoilers.
A young Michael meets his adoptive brother Milo who both suffer form a rare blood disease. Their adoptive father sends Michael to New York to medical school. Years later Michael is declining the Nobel prize for his invention of artificial blood. Michael begins to experiment with bat blood in search for a cure for his rare blood disease. Due to the legal ramifications of the experiments he gets funded to take a mercenary vessel into international waters to conduct his experiments. He injects himself with his experimental cure which turns him into a vampire. He ends up killing all of the mercenaries on board, and when he regains his senses he erases camera footage and escapes back to New York.
The film goes on to show case him trying to ween himself off real blood by using his artificial blood. Here is where they really need to consult with drug addicts to add in details of drug withdrawal. The film doesn’t show him reverting back to his former physical condition. Loss of muscle and strength would make the struggle to cross the line and kill more intense. Yet the film doesn’t go there and it doesn’t give us the level of empathy needed to really connect to Morbius as a human character struggling with the cure and the morality of killing people. Then perhaps have him consider killing criminals which is the path the writer’s took with Venom. Nope. Missed opportunity. Then the blatant foreshadow of his brother Milo (Matt Smith) eyeing the cure vials. You already know when he leaves his cane he took the cure. Next we have a rushed villain going on a killing spree and forced brother versus brother climatic fight that was not very emotionally driven at all. Such a shame and waste. Marvel script writers listen… your audiences are smart and patient enough to allow a villain to survive a film and continue to antagonize the hero(s). Craft and create a universe of villains who survive and continue to give our heroes their constant struggles. You don’t always need a bow-tie ending. Let villains live to grow stronger, smarter, and more menacing. Your hero is only as great as the challenges they face. Morbius’s greatest challenge is the inner addiction struggle in the form of his thirst for blood versus his do no harm as a doctor. That did not get played up to the levels that a audience needs to connect with his fight.
The devil is in the details and Morbius lacks volumes. Marvel please give us villains that can live to fight another day (film). A universe of villains is far more interesting than a world of Avenger’s.
