In January, Sony's Spider-Man universe will expand with Morbius. Directed by Daniel Espinosa and starring Jared Leto, the film centers on Michael Morbius (Leto), a brilliant scientist with a rare blood disease, who, in the hopes of finding a cure for himself, ends up becoming a blood-thirsty vampire with a wide array of super powers. The film's release date is approaching, and we now have an important piece of information about the project: Its runtime.
Cinemark and Regal Cinemas recently posted the runtime as being 108 minutes, or 1 hour, 48 minutes. While this could be a mistake or a placeholder, the fact that two theater chains have the same information tells us this is likely the film's actual length. What's worth noting about this is that Morbius will be the second-shortest movie in Sony's Spider-Man universe, behind only Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which ran for 1 hour, 37 minutes. If we subtract the credits — which typically last around 10 minutes — Morbius could end up being around 1 hour, 38 minutes.
For comparison, here is a list of all of Sony's Spider-Man franchise's runtimes:
- Spider-Man: 2 hours, 1 minute.
- Spider-Man 2: 2 hours, 7 minutes.
- Spider-Man 3: 2 hours, 19 minutes.
- The Amazing Spider-Man: 2 hours, 16 minutes.
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2: 2 hours, 21 minutes.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming: 2 hours, 13 minutes.
- Venom: 1 hour, 52 minutes.
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: 1 hour, 57 minutes.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home: 2 hours, 9 minutes.
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage: 1 hour, 37 minutes.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home: 2 hours, 28 minutes.
Morbius will be a significant step forward for Sony's Spider-Man franchise in terms of expanding its mythology (due to the introduction of vampires). It will also feature some important connective threads to the studio's other Marvel ventures (e.g., Michael Keaton as The Vulture, Oscorp and Spider-Man's "Murderer" posters). With the film having to deal with those aspects as well as with Michael Morbius' arc, some could be worried about the short runtime preventing the film from making the most of its plot.
However, it's not wise to judge the movie's potential quality solely on its runtime, as it could be perfectly serviceable for what it's setting out to do. Furthermore, even though Sony's latest superhero (antihero?) adventure is short compared to other superhero blockbusters (which tend to run for over two hours), its length is within the average (non-superhero) movie runtime.
Morbius will be released in theaters on January 28, 2022.
About The Author:
Daniel Klissmman is an entertainment journalist who's written for Movie Pilot, CBR.com, Cinemark and AMC Theatres. He loves superheroes with a passion and really wishes he'll one day get to hang out with Moon Knight.