Morbius' Biggest Failure Was The Villain, Not Jared Leto's Vampire

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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Morbius

Sony's Morbius is far from a critical darling and its biggest failure comes in the treatment of Matt Smith's Milo and his relationship with Jared Leto's Michael Morbius. While Morbius' box office is beating the bad reviews, much is being said about the portrayal of Morbius in the film and its departure from the source material. While the treatment of Morbius is an issue, Morbius has a far greater problem in the creation and portrayal of its villain.

Milo is introduced as a surrogate brother to Morbius who shares the same blood disorder. After taking him under his wing and showing him the ropes of the facility they live in as children, Morbius saves Milo's life when a medical device malfunctions, thus creating the lifelong friendship and brotherhood between Milo and Morbius. Milo doesn't exist in the comics but was created as an amalgam of some characters. Matt Smith was first slated to play the villain Loxias Crown (known as Hunger) and was recast at some point during production to play Milo who is not quite Hunger and is given many of Morbius' own traits and background.

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This change is a large reason why Morbius is unsatisfying. Milo is defined by Morbius, not by any of his own character development or past; all the film does is show Milo in relation to Morbius. An example of this comes early on: when the two first meet, Morbius gives the new kid—Lucien—the name Milo and he accepts it as though he has no identity except that which is granted to him. That its villain exists solely in relation to its hero is Morbius' weakest story choice. This is ubiquitous in Milo's role in the film: Milo is apparently