FIRST LOOK: Morbius

Marvel’s Morbius is sinking its vampiric jaws into theaters Summer 2020

Summer 2020 a new Marvel movie is coming featuring Jared Leto as Morbius.

Was not familiar with this comic book character (is he a deep cut?), so had to do some research for this post. Turns out his full name is Morbius The Living Vampire, and originally an antihero of Spider-Man’s.

Despite his initial status as one of Spider-Man’s horror-based rogues, he went on to become a brooding and gritty, albeit heroic and tragically flawed antihero in his own series and other titles. His true identity was former award-winning biochemist named Michael Morbius imbued with pseudo-vampiric superhuman abilities and physical traits stemming from a failed biochemical experiment which was intended to cure his rare blood disorder, as opposed to supernatural means. The rest of his appearances feature his struggles with his non-human vampiric persona, his insatiable lust for human blood and his subsequent efforts to cure his horrific condition, along with his eventual stint as a brutal and nightmarish vigilante.

Wikipedia entry for Morbius

Ok, Morbius now has me very interested. There is a teaser trailer which makes me want to see it even more.

Teaser trailer for Marvel’s Morbius released 1/13/2020

One interesting side benefit of these comic character movies that is not often discussed is that it can lead people to greater research into past art. I consider myself a light comic fan, not a diehard reader by any stretch, but I am unfamiliar with Morbius.

Until earlier this year, I didn’t know about Harley Quinn either. Maybe I’d heard her name mentioned before but having not seen Suicide Squad, I missed Margot Robbie’s portrayal. Now that she will be appearing in Birds of Prey, I took a closer look into the character, going back to the comics and her new adult animated TV series on DC Universe. This has opened my eyes to a wealth of creative works involving the character.

Unless a movie is based on a novel or some other work, there isn’t this degree of depth beyond the movie. These comic book characters have a lot more depth than some are giving credit for, just because comic books may seem like a juvenile activity. They are not. These movies offer an exciting experience that goes beyond the two hours or so they are realized on screen.

Morbius opens in theaters on July 31, 2020.

Martin Scorsese Clarifies Shade Thrown at Marvel Movies

MCU = Marvel Cinematic Universe — and Scorcese is asking for deeper thought about its cinematic values .. maybe

Director Martin Scorsese doesn’t seem to think Marvel movies are “cinema” whatever that means. You might have heard that Marvel fans were not happy with the diss on their favorite movies. Well, Scorsese has clarified what he meant.

The director doubles down on his belief that Marvel movies aren’t cinema and again makes the theme park comparison. He believes that Marvel movies have value and people can like them or not, but that they provide a different type of experience, and that experience doesn’t meet his definition of cinema.

Martin Scorsese Clarifies Controversial Comments About Marvel Movies

Art is subjective. Scorsese has a right to his opinion. Whether or not he dished this at a time that he was wanted more publicity for The Irishmen which isn’t getting a wide theatrical release (ironic, actually) is open to speculation.

I don’t agree that Marvel movies aren’t just as much “cinema” as any other movie. Seems a little bit like class snobbery when we talk about how one piece of art not being art because it doesn’t meet some set of conditions. Art is art, period.

Just my two cents. Scorsese is entitled to classify movies however he wants. I don’t see any difference cinematically between Goodfellas and Avengers, sorry, but if he does, there’s no point in beating the famous director down. Some critics are hypersensitive, too, just ask Queen’s Roger Taylor.

Honestly, I’m not as big a fan of the MCU right now either but it’s not for the same reasons as Scorsese, it is burnout on some of the characters. In my opinion, they’ve rebooted some of their characters too many times. Enough Spider-Man being rebooted, let’s get a character deeper in the comic books sort of like what DC did with Joker ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ . Plenty of other characters than the most popular ones getting trotted out time and again.