Morbius London film premiere 2023

1. The film generated various memes that ironically praised it and caused it to trend numerous times. Sony saw what appeared to be renewed interest in the film and decided to re-release it in theaters on June 2, 2022. However the memes did not translate into box office success, as the film only made an average of $289 per theater, causing media outlets to report the film had bombed a second time.
2. Jared Leto committed to capturing Michael Morbius' limping state and used crutches even off-camera. This proved to be troublesome for the crew, at times, when the actor reportedly took 45-minute treks to the bathroom. Pushing him in a wheelchair was a loophole solution around these delays.
3. The New York scenes were filmed in Manchester's Northern Quarter, United Kingdom. All city lights, signs, and license plates were changed to match those found in New York.
4. Matt Smith joined the film, after previously turning down other superhero film roles, due to director Daniel Espinosa's involvement and encouragement from his former Doctor Who (2005) co-star Karen Gillan, who portrays Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
5. J.K. Simmons originally filmed scenes as J. Jonah Jameson for this movie. In the time that elapsed between the film's original shoot and the production of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), it became evident to the filmmakers that Morbius did not actually exist in the same universe as Simmons' version of J. Jonah Jameson. As a result, Simmons' scenes were removed from the film.
6. In the first crime scene, Agent Ramirez states that this was the weirdest crime after "that thing in San Francisco". This is a reference to Venom (2018). Later in the movie, Morbius states, "I am Venom" to a thug assaulting him. In the trailer, this line was followed by "I'm just kidding, it's Dr. Michael Morbius, at your service", but it was cut from the movie itself.
7. In the subway scene, several ads/posters are seen in the background with the names "Thomas & Kane", a nod to Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, who were the creators of Morbius.
8. An early scene in the film shows a young Morbius being raised in Greece. Although the film version appears to be American, the comics version is Greek.
9. The original cut had Carnage as one of Morbius' prisoners (before the film was reshuffled and placed eight movies ahead of where it originally was going to be).
10. When Michael goes to the hospital shortly after turning, as he reads the chart, the intercom says the name Michael Corvin. This is the name of another vampiric character from the 'Underworld' series of films. In his first appearance, Corvin was going through the final stages of becoming a surgeon.
11. Matt Smith apparently deliberately channeled Kiefer Sutherland's performance as David from The Lost Boys (1987) in some scenes of the film. He joked that this was due to both movies having their main characters named Michael.
12. The trailer shows graffiti of Spider-Man that reads "Murderer". However, that shot doesn't appear in the movie, and the director confirmed that it was added by the studio without his involvement, suggesting that the shot was added to piggyback on the popularity of the Spider-Man franchise. The trailer also has a shot of Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes saying to Morbius: "Hey Dr. Mike, you and I should stay in touch." This shot doesn't appear in the finished movie either, and considering that Keaton only has a brief post-credits cameo, his part in the movie may have been bigger originally. Other scenes or quotes referred to in the trailer but not found in the movie include: Detective Stroud (Tyrese Gibson) stating that Morbius went missing for two months, and was then found on the container ship that washed up off of Long Island; Morbius and Dr. Nicholas (Jared Harris) having a chat on a park bench; and Det. Stroud and Rodriguez (Al Madrigal) presumably arriving in the same park.
13. Morbius tells Detectives Rodriguez and Stroud how desperate he is for blood, saying, "You won't like me when I'm hungry." This is a callback to The Incredible Hulk (1977), starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the titular green monster. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" is Banner's catchphrase in the series and has since become synonymous with the character in general. Additionally, Banner attempted to say the classic phrase in Portuguese in The Incredible Hulk (2008), but due to his relative unfamiliarity with the language, accidentally replaced "angry" with "hungry".
14. Jared Leto claimed that Michael Morbius' personality was close enough to his own that he didn't find it necessary to use his famous method approach in his portrayal of the character. Despite how much fun he had, he still found the role quite challenging due to it being less character-driven than his previous performances.
15. Matt Smith explained in an interview that he was somewhat confused with his character's history as he wasn't really aware of how Milo tied into Hunger's greater legacy and origins from the comics since it wasn't clarified in the script he was given for the film. Many reports from when the film was first announced also claimed that Smith's character was named Loxias Crown, and only very shortly prior to the release of the movie was it announced that his name was actually Milo (although his birth name is Lucien Crown, which is somewhat similar). This has led some to believe that his name was changed during one of the film's many reshoot periods. However, it is also equally possible that this was always the plan and that the reports simply assumed that the film would retain his original name from the comics.
16. Leto was rumored for another vampire role, Lestat in Josh Boone's failed Vampire Chronicles reboot.
17. One of the key locations in the film is Horizon Labs, where Morbius looks after children with the same blood disorder that he has -- while also carrying out his research into curing the condition. But Horizon Labs has been a huge part of the "Spider-Man" comics in the last decade, as Peter Parker worked there during Dan Slott's run on the character. It's a place for gifted scientists to work on the most cutting-edge technology and ideas, without the restraints of having to pitch them to a board of directors. Horizon Labs first appears in "Amazing Spider-Man" issue #648, and it's run by Max Modell, one of Peter's personal heroes in the scientific community. Morbius also works for Horizon in the comics, and he's the one who creates a serum that saves everyone in New York when the events of "Spider-Island" turn everyone into giant arachnids. But he's not the only villain to grace the laboratory's halls. Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus, also works for the company after he transfers his consciousness into Peter's brain in "Amazing Spider-Man" issue #700 -- and he uses Horizon as a way of developing new technology for his own heroic career. Although don't worry, non-comic readers, Otto eventually surrendered Peter's body back to the hero's consciousness.
18. The second trailer features the song "People Are Strange", which was previously used in the vampire movie The Lost Boys (1987).
19. At the beginning of the film when Dr. Nicholas tells Michael he should use his talent and smarts, he mentions a "school for gifted children in New York". This is a reference to the X-Men, whose "School for Gifted Youngsters" is in upstate New York.
20. F. Gary Gray and Antoine Fuqua turned down the offer to direct. When asked why, Fuqua responded, "As a kid, I grew up with comic books. They talked to me about Black Panther years ago, way back in the day. There's some reason they came up and they talked to me at Sony about Morbius. I don't know, I have a 13-year-old son, so I'm watching more of that again and it's exciting to do that. I'd love to create a new one, but something that's closer to what I get excited about."
21. According to Jared Leto, this first movie is a "first date," and he envisions many more "Morbius" movies to come. "We're just getting to know each other," Leto said. "This is us kind of at that first step forward and I just think if you look at Wolverine, you look at Batman, you look at a lot of these films and they evolve over time. You know, there's a relationship that develops there and who knows. But the Sinister Six head to head with Spider-Man, we'll see what the future holds."
22. The film's director Daniel Espinosa directed the sci-fi/horror movie Life (2017), which was rumored to be a predecessor to Venom (2018).
23. Once the movie was available on digital, a Twitch channel streamed the entire film on a loop before being taken down.
24. Morbius had a brief cameo in the deleted alternate ending of Blade (1998) as a tease for his planned appearance as the main villain in Blade II (2002). However, he wasn't included in the sequel because Marvel had sold the character's rights to Artisan Entertainment to produce a standalone Morbius film.
25. Morbius promises Martine that he won't go "full Dracula." Obviously, this is another reference to the classic vampire story by Bram Stoker. Dracula first appears in 1950's Suspense #7 as part of the anthology comic book, but he's since gone on to be a big villain for Blade and the Avengers. He's got a very similar origin to the typical story, except that he's also fought Earth's Mightiest Heroes over the years. Most recently, Dracula has set up his own kingdom of vampires in the ruins of Chernobyl.
26. The film was set to be released on 31 July 2020 in the United States. But when the coronavirus pandemic began to affect the film industry, including attendance at movie theaters, the film's release was moved to 19 March 2021, 11 January 2022, and finally 28 January 2022. Sony Pictures subsequently began moving their release date for 2020 films to 2021, including another film set in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters: Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) from its 2 October 2020 release date to 25 June 2021. 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', another Marvel film associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was dated for release in the United States on 16 July 2021 to 5 November 2021, and again to 17 December 2021.
27. Despite never filming the scene with the Spider-Man mural, the director has confirmed that Spider-Man (or at least a Spider-Totem equivelent) does still exist within the SSU.
28. Jared Leto explained that he opted to avoid prosthetic makeup for his character's monstrous transformation. "Initially we were going to use prosthetics, but I really fought for CG! Obviously, it's the future and it was exciting to work with these incredible people that are on the cutting-edge of technology I just thought it would give us a lot more freedom," he said. Leto, no stranger to prosthetics after portraying Paolo Gucci in House of Gucci (2021), compared the two processes. "Well it's exciting! You know, the mask is interesting for an actor, because it conceals, but it also can reveal a part of who you are," he said. "Wearing prosthetics can be fascinating. It can affect the way you move and express. Conversely CG has its limitations and its benefits."
29. Nearly all promotional material for the film has emphasized that it was produced by the same studio as Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) and Venom (2018). After the release and smash success of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), promotional material for Morbius began to emphasize the connection to that film instead of its predecessor, though they continued to cite the first Venom rather than its sequel.
30. Matt Smith (Lucien/Milo) is the fourth actor who played an incarnation of Doctor Who (Smith was the Eleventh Doctor) to appear in a comic book adaptation, after Christopher Eccleston (the Ninth Doctor and Malekith in Thor: The Dark World (2013)), David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor and the Purple Man in Jessica Jones (2015)), and Peter Capaldi (the Twelfth Doctor and the Thinker in The Suicide Squad (2021)). All four have taken on villainous comic-book roles.
31. This is Jared Leto's third comic-book role, after playing the Joker in Suicide Squad (2016) and the Snyder Cut of Justice League.
32. J. Jonah Jameson's infamous newspaper featured in Venom as well as the non-MCU Spider-Man movies. His son, John Jameson, was also the astronaut who found the symbiotes on an asteroid in Venom. Jonah later turned up in the MCU on a Daily Bugle web show after Spider-Man's identity was revealed.
33. Milo is most heavily based off of the villain Hunger, aka Loxias Crown. His real name here is the more normal-sounding Lucien, though everyone refers to him as Milo.
34. Pokémon was used as an influence on the portrayal of Morbius' powers, specifically singling out the series' use of light and color to portray the title creatures' attacks and abilities.
35. By buying a copy of The Daily Bugle, Milo reveals to the audience that this movie takes place in a New York protected by Spider-Man, even though the director excised all scenes shot with J. Jonah Jameson, played by J.K. Simmons. The front page of the paper also revealed the existence of The Rhino and The Black Cat in the Sony Universe.
36. Lucien mentions having employed bodyguards because he angered a Russian man while playing cards with him. Referencing one family that does enjoy a good underground card game with other wealthy members of society is the Kravinoffs. Kraven the Hunter is a member of the Kravinoff family.
37. Matt Smith's character Milo wears clothes that are of the same style worn by Jim Carrey's character Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask (1994), which are decidedly different than the rest of the characters in this movie. His name "Milo" is also that of Jim Carrey's dog in The Mask. He also has dance moves and strikes poses throughout Morbius that echo those of Stanley Ipkiss when he dons the green mask.
38. James Willems, a comedian (and Morbius super fan) from the popular YouTube channel Funhaus, originally had a scene in the movie as "Quirky Male". The scene was cut from the final movie however for unknown reasons.
39. Matt Smith (Lucien/Milo) had previously played Doctor Who (2005). Another version of The Doctor starred in Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius: Part One (1976).
40. Both Jared Leto and Matt Smith have starred in the leading roles in American Psycho (2000) adaptations: Leto played Paul Allen in the 2000 film, while Smith played Patrick Bateman in the original London production of the musical in 2013.
41. Morbius is the third primary antagonist, with Venom and Carnage, who does not meet Spider-Man despite being known to the hero in comics.
42. At 1:02 while Martine is reading the Daily Bugle it, along with Rhino and Black Cat earlier in the film, it makes mention that Chameleon recently escaped prison as well.
43. The helicopter flies over "Cerro de la Muerte", which translates from Spanish as "Hill of Death", likely because of the high number of bloodthirsty bats in the area.
44. Morbius is seen twice hanging by his legs, the way a bat does.
45. Matt Smith's appearance as Milo in the film facing off against Jared Leto's Morbius is somewhat ironic, considering that Smith was apparently on a list of actors considered for the role of the DCEU's Joker, a part that Leto himself took up in Suicide Squad (2016) prior to starring as Morbius. Also, even though Smith is the primary antagonist, he only appears in a single shot in the trailer.
46. Adria Arjona took inspiration from politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
47. This is Jared Harris's third comic-book role, after Tales of the Black Freighter (2009), Mr. Weatherbee on Robot Chicken, and The King of England on Axe Cop.
48. Morbius ends up wrecking a neon sign for the Wyman Hotel. There is a Wyman Hotel located in Colorado, but not in NYC. The name was chosen as an Easter egg for a Marvel writer named Wyman.
49. Morbius debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Oct. 1971), the first Spider-Man issue not written by Stan Lee (he was busy writing a screenplay for a science fiction film that was never produced). The character was created after the Comics Code Authority lifted its ban on comics featuring vampires in February 1971.
50. The Greek island shown 25 years earlier is the island of Corfu with the Old Fortress and extra buildings. Perhaps the island was never bombed by the Germans during WWII and the palaces and buildings remained intact.
51. Morbius shows many similarities with Spider-Man (a Marvel Comics hero with recombined DNA for an animal) and Batman (a DC Comics hero with a strong connection to bats).
52. Adria Arjona appears in this film alongside Matt Smith, the 11th incarnation of The Doctor from Doctor Who (2005). She previously appeared in the Amazon Prime series Good Omens (2019) alongside David Tennant, the 10th incarnation of The Doctor.
53. Matt Smith and Jared Harris appeared together in the first season of The Crown. Matt Smith played Prince Philip and Jared Harris played King George VI, father of Prince Elizabeth II played by Claire Foy.
54. Morbius lands in a neon sign and two letters fall off: O and M. Om is a sacred sound considered by many ancient philosophical texts to be the sound of the universe, encompassing all other sounds within it.
55. Was featured on the comedy podcast How Did This Get Made
56. The name of the cargo ship in the beginning of the movie is Murnau (as in F.W. Murnau, the director of the classic vampire movie Nosferatu (1922)). Like the cargo ship in Nosferatu, the Murnau arrives in port with its entire crew dead and drained of blood.
57. In the mid-credits scenes, Adrian Toomes is brought to Sony's Spider-Man universe due to the finale of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). The first mid-credits scene shows the sky opening up during the MCU's film's climactic battle. In the second mid-credits scene, Toomes is released from jail as this universe doesn't even know who he is and thus he wouldn't have any criminal record. In the final mid-credits scene, Toomes says he is there because of Spider-Man, the first actual mention of the hero's name in Sony's non-MCU universe, then suggests teaming up with Morbius. This is a set-up to Sony's long desire to have a Sinister Six film.
58. MCU fans prefer to think that the Adrian Toomes / Vulture who appears from another universe in the post-credit scenes is a variant, and not the one from MCU's Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), despite the confirmation from the director that it's the same character. Vulture's appearance in Morbius is hard to reconcile with how his character arc was resolved in Spider-Man: Homecoming, given that his flight equipment was destroyed, and he would have had to rebuild it without Chitauri-based technology; not to mention how the logic behind his appearance in this universe doesn't gel with how Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) presented Dr. Strange's spell (where people from other universes would be pulled into the MCU, not vice versa). However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) showed that Strange's spell had some serious and unexpected ramifications that may explain some of these inconsistencies.
59. Morbius' smoky vampiric trail becomes purple towards the end of the film mirroring the comics. Director Daniel Espinosa said the use of "light and colours" in the film was actually inspired by Pokémon, as well as the comics' aesthetic. Morbius often has purple lines trailing behind him in the comic art. Contrary to other opinions, while the colour change during the film's climax is most likely a nod to his origins, it is not an indicator that he's "fully embraced his abilities" so to speak. Throughout the movie, the colour trails were the same colour as whatever Morbius was wearing. At the beginning he was wearing all black, so black trails. Later, he was wearing an orange jumpsuit and had orange trails. For the climax, he was wearing an all black outfit with a jacket that has a purple silk lining, hence the purple trails.
60. Scenes included in the trailers but not present in the film: Michael walking past a mural of Spider-Man with the word "MURDERER" sprayed over in an alleyway wearing a prisoner jumpsuit. This scene was presumably after he escaped from prison. Martine running away from the FBI in a forest. FBI agent Simon Stroud is also seen sporting a mechanical arm in the same scene. An alternate scene of the FBI agents interrogating Michael. Two different takes of Adrian Toomes/Vulture interacting with Michael while he's being taken into police custody in two different trailers. An alternate dialogue of Michael threatening a goon.
61. This is the second SSMU film to tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' (2021).
62. A news crawl following the confrontation between Morbius and Lucien that takes them into a subway station mentions that the subway has been shut down due to an infestation of bats. This is a nod to Morbius' connection to the bats. He mentions how they welcome him instead of attack him earlier in the movie, but this is the first sign that he can actually call them to him like he does later in the final battle against Lucien. The bats followed him through the subway, which is why it ends up infested.
63. Michael Keaton doing a role reprisal as the Vulture in a cameo caught a lot of people off-guard, especially considering that Sony initially advertised their universe as being unconnected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
64. During the final battle between Milo and Morbius, Milo says how their new condition is not a curse, but a gift. This is what the Green Goblin said in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
65. The four notes of Dies irae blast over the soundtrack as Morbius drinks from a bag of red blood for the first time and Morbius realizes Milo has become a vampire and a killer. They play again when Stroud and Rodriguez raid Martine's apartment.
66. Morbius and Milo's first fight take place in the famous London Underground train tunnel, specifically on the escalators where a scene from An American Werewolf In London (1981) was shot in which a Londoner is attacked by the werewolf.
67. There are indeed 27 bones in the human hand (three in each finger, apart from two in the thumb, five metacarpals - long bones in the center part of the hand - and eight small bones near the wrist).
68. With this movie, both Jared Leto and Michael Keaton will have played characters from both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Leto was in Suicide Squad (2016) and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) as The Joker, and Keaton was Batman in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Other actors who have done this include J.K. Simmons, Tom Hardy, and Ben Affleck.
69. At 35 minutes when Morbius walks into the tank of bats for a second, the score sounds a lot like the Hans Zimmer score from the Christopher Nolan 'Batman' trilogy.
70. Milo taunts Morbius in the train tunnel with "Michael," similar to how Kiefer Sutherland did in 'The Lost Boys' (1987).
71. In the second post-credit teaser, The Vulture finds Morbius and mentions he is putting together a group to take down Spider-Man. This is likely a reference to a future Sinister Six movie outside of the MCU, as this removes Adrian Toomes from the MCU dimension.
72. Morbius' quote "Don't make me hungry. You won't like me when I'm hungry" is taken word-by-word from the MCU film The Incredible Hulk (2008), although it was spoken in Portuguese by Bruce Banner (Edward Norton).
73. The focus on Milo's feet as he exits Michael's jail cell is very similar to the reveal of Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects (1995).
74. When Dr. Nicholas asks Milo (Matt Smith) how his pain is on a scale of one to 10, Milo replies "Eleven". Smith also played the titular character on Doctor Who as the 11th incarnation of The Doctor.
75. In an early scene, we see Morbius rename Lucien, claiming all the kids who've been in that bed were named Milo. The Slavic root mil- means "dear" or "beloved", while the Latin "miles" means soldier. So maybe Morbius calls every one of his bed neighbours Milo because he hopes they'll stick around and become "dear" to him as Lucien did. The "soldier" meaning foreshadows how they'll fight to cure their illness AND fight each other.
76. When Milo goads Morbius into attacking him, he says, "That's the spirit," a reference to what Roy Batty said in Blade Runner (1982). Jared Leto was in Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Genre

Action,Adventure,Horror

Cast

as Dr. Michael Morbius

as Milo

as Martine Bancroft

as Dr. Emil Nicholas

as Agent Simon Stroud

as Agent Rodriguez

as Adrian Toomes

as Bush Pilot

as Young Michael

as Young Milo

as Gang Member

as Finance Bro (Pub)

as Jean (Pub)

as Mr. Fox