This post contains spoilers for Morbius. Here is my spoiler-free review to read before watching the film, watch it then come back.

I briefly spoke about my problem with Sony and their marketing in my review for Uncharted, but boy oh boy is Morbius on another level. I’m truly glad this film is getting awful reviews from critics, but it won’t be enough for critics to be disappointed but needs general audience’s approval too. Even though audience reviews are actually okay, the numbers differ and don’t offer hope to Jared Leto for a sequel.

If the writing wasn’t on the wall with Venom, then it certainly is now and seems to be that Sony really do need Marvel Studios to hold their hand when making films to have any big success like they did with Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The marketing for this film confused audiences when you had a shot of the Oscorp building using the logo from The Amazing Spider-Man series, the daily bugle design from the Sam Raimi series as well as Morbius walking past graffiti of Spider-Man with the Raimi design, but also featuring Michael Keaton from the MCU. So what universe is it in? The film doesn’t answer those questions, in fact it removes nearly all of those references (apart from the Daily Bugle) until the post credit scene which sees Michael Keaton return when he is the one who makes the least amount of sense. When we last saw him he was in prison after the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming, as far as we know he should still be in prison but now he know longer should know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man after the universe had its mind wiped after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. So how has he ended up in the Venom universe? Or is Morbius in the MCU? This universe we know has a Venom because of the reference by Dr Michael Morbius, but there isn’t one in the MCU so it has to be the Venom universe. I’m fine with Keaton being in this universe, with some mystery, something that could be explained in a future installment in this universe (although definitely wouldn’t have), but it’s the second mid credit scene where even bigger problems arise. We get Morbius driving to a location to meet up with Vulture, who turns up in a suit very similar to his one from Spider-Man: Homecoming (How does he have this suit? He built it with Stark technology and had help from the Tinkerer, not like he made it from random scraps) and tells Morbius they should team to take on Spider-Man and “do some good” in what is some awful and lazy writing. There’s no reference to Spider-Man so far in this universe. Morbius origin doesn’t involve Spider-Man, Venom’s origin doesn’t involve Spider-Man, Spider-Man has not tried to stop them at all so why should they have any problems with him? They shouldn’t. Doesn’t make any sense.

Sony had a chance to fix this universe if Morbius was Venom level good at the bare minimum, but simply isn’t. I don’t care about these stupid villain origin stories. I don’t get why they want to do these films. We haven’t made an interesting villain yet. Venom is an antihero, there is a villain in Morbius but it’s Matt Smiths’s character not Morbius. Where is the threat? Venom is a joke, it’s a comedy film not a serious threat to Spider-Man. Morbius is the same. He isn’t a villain in this film apart from being a Vampire.

We know since The Amazing Spider-Man series that Sony have been trying to a Sinister Six film and it feels like they’re finally getting there apart from without any connection to Spider-Man. I don’t have a problem setting up Sinister Six but do it in a natural way. We have been told we are getting a Madame Web film (a film that’s somewhat interesting to me, but it’s the same writers as this film so will likely suck), set up a villain in that. Do six different Spider-Man films and set up six villains in those, that would be a better way to do it and more natural and give the villains some problems with Spider-Man.

There’s nothing new about Morbius, it’s lazy, awfully written. Please stop making characters fight another villain that has the exact same powers. In fact Marvel Studios please take this away from Sony, they don’t deserve this. The bare minimum, Sony beg Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige to sort this universe, pay them however much they want, they’re the only people I trust to sort this mess out. At the moment I don’t want to see Andrew Garfield in this universe, he deserves better, even if the signs are pointing to him being the Spider-Man of this universe so far. I don’t think anyone playing Spider-Man deserves this. Do better! Try harder! Hire good writers, hire good filmmakers and let them do what they want, it might be the only way to fix this universe, if it isn’t too late already as they certainly aren’t going to fix Kraven at this stage.