In 2018, “Venom” opened up new possibilities for a cinematic universe revolving around Spider-Man’s foes. This being said, another Marvel project was in the works, which was “Morbius.” Despite its rough release schedule, “Morbius” is finally here. It follows Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) who has a rare blood disease that’s been cured but curses him with vampire-like powers that lead him down a path of darkness.

Sony’s cinematic universe of Spider-Man villains has developed a bad reputation ever since the release of “Venom.” Unfortunately, it’s mostly due to its own producers messing with the final product to cater to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and “Morbius” is another victim of this. The film feels like it is just following a studio checklist with no artistic vision behind it.

“Morbius” has one of the most cliche-ridden screenplays in a long time. From start to finish, every line delivery and every plot choice can be predicted 30 minutes before it happens. The film itself is torturous to sit through due to its really slow pacing. Leto couldn’t save it with his uncharismatic and uninteresting performance. He seems as bored as the audience throughout the film. His emotions remain the same even if as his character deals with the ups and downs of the plot.

Another horribly consistent element of its bad writing is the way every villain is shoved in every one of these movies. They’re just more powerful versions of the protagonists who’re there to fill in for the third act. Both “Venom” films are also subjects of this continuous cliched element. There’s no interesting history to the villain played by Matt Smith. He just served as a punching bag for the hero. At the end of the day, the so-called villains are just turned into heroes who are no different from Spider-Man. There’s never a sense of their antagonism getting to them.

For any great comic book, its most important component is the soundtrack, and to any familiar fans of the genre, they can notice that the “Morbius” soundtrack from time to time sounds exactly like Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. It was an odd thing for viewers to hear as it completely takes them out of the film.

Since “Morbius” deals with a vampire protagonist, it’s only expected for the film to be in the horror genre, which it is. Sad to say, there’s nothing resembling anything horrifying unless it’s Leto’s CGI face and the rest of the special effects. Camera movements are uninspired and resemble nothing fearful. There’s never suspense to what Morbius’ power can do at its fullest. There’s just nothing original to what’s presented because everything this movie tries to do has already been done before (and done better) by other predecessors.

Sony’s Spider-Man villains cinematic universe so far hasn’t blown anyone away besides blowing viewers’ wallets. “Morbius” is a below-average movie that holds no redeeming values which is why it’s a low 2/10. Sony’s planning a new movie in this universe that revolves around the character “Kraven the Hunter.” Only the future will tell if it’ll please the audience or just be another disposable film.