Morbius Director Reacts To Negative Reviews (Exclusive)

04/05/2022 08:59 am EDT

While some audiences are enjoying Morbius according to the scores on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes, the official reviews from approved critics are not coming in with positive remarks. Four out of five critics are leaving negative reviews for the Marvel film made by Sony Pictures, separately from the work of Marvel Studios and the canon of the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe. Those reviews have made their way to Morbius director Daniel Espinosa but he tries not to pay too much attention to harsh remarks. 

"I mean, I try not to," Espinosa told ComicBook.com when asked if he gives a lot of weight to harsh reviews. "I just ask my friends to send me the ones that they think are clever. I mean, good or bad. And then I get a bunch of clever stuff and the stuff that my friends don't think is clever, maybe it's just healthy for me to read. So, it is that. You make a movie that is supposed to be public. I mean, it's part of the fundamental concept of what you're doing, but it's always very strange."

Despite negative reviews, Morbius had a successful first weekend. The film took in nearly $40 million in its domestic debut, totaling more than $80 million worldwide. On an estimated budget of $75 million before marketing, the film may be on its way to a profit if it can hold up in its second weekend.

Some of the negativity surrounding Morbius from Marvel fans centers around a trailer advertising a movie with connections to Spider-Man and Michael Keaton's Vulture. When the movie released and an image of Spider-Man was cut from the film and Keaton's character was reduced to a post-credits scene, many were frustrated. "It's funny, because when you do a movie of this sort, there are some people that make the trailer and then you make the movie and when you make a movie, you always cut out things," Espinosa said in our interview. "For example, if you look at Safe House, you have these, when they're in this war room, I have many different kind of detective parts of that story that got cut out. And what I can say is that what's in the movie is what I thought should be in the movie."

What did you think of Morbius? Are the reviews fair? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! Morbius is now playing in theaters. 

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