“Morbius is a superhero vampire movie that really sucks,” reads one critic’s review for director Daniel Espinosa’s entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe starring Jared Leto. The Sony Pictures adaptation of the Marvel Comic book character, which has a 16% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, has topped the box office with $39 million despite the negative reviews. In a new interview with Insider, Espinosa reacted to Morbius sinking its teeth into a critics’ score lower than Venom: Let There Be Carnage (58%), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (51%), and Venom (30%).
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“When I did my first feature it was a small movie called Babylon Disease. I remember one day going home on the subway and I had a few drinks so I was a bit drunk. Someone nudged me on the train and said, ‘I have to tell you what’s wrong with the second scene in your feature,’ and I was like, ‘Well, okay,’” Espinosa told Insider when asked about critical reviews. “The point I’m making is that it’s a strange thing to make something that is so public.”
Espinosa added, “Look, I have a lot of self-hatred, so I have a lot of criticism of my own work. I’m always trying to focus on being better. But I am also proud of what I do. There are parts in all of my movies that I’m really proud of.”
Filmed in early 2019 and released three years later — Morbius moved off its original July 10, 2020 date six times, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic — did Espinosa’s movie miss its window?
“Maybe,” the director said. I mean, when I did Life, all I heard was I had to be before the next Alien movie came out [2017’s Alien: Covenant].”
Espinosa explained, “Because, after that movie came out, people wouldn’t want to see another movie with aliens. But to me, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, the movie is the movie. As the years go by, no one remembers when it came out, just that it exists.”
Fans and critics alike have not taken a liking to Leto’s Living Vampire, including Spencer Perry’s one-star review for ComicBook.
Starring Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson, and Jared Harris, Sony’s Morbius is now playing in theaters.
