
We Almost Lived in a Timeline Where ‘Morbius' Was Made by ‘Midsommar' Director Ari Aster
In a recent interview on Semafor's Mixed Signals podcast, Aster, after initially struggling to pronounce the film's name, revealed that Morbius was indeed the project he was invited by Marvel to direct. (Technically, Morbius wasn't part of the MCU; it was part of Sony's web of films adjacent to Spider-Man that didn't actually feature the character.)
On paper, hiring Aster, the director behind A24's aforementioned modern horror classics, sounds promising, given the inherent horror in any vampire film. When Semafor's Max Welltani lamented the missed opportunity, noting how Morbius—as directed by Daniel Espinosa—didn't perform well at the box office (it did OK), Aster responded to the what-if in kind, saying, 'We could've added it to my list.'
"I feel like I shouldn't say. Should I?"@maxwelltani asks director Ari Aster about a rumor that he was asked to do a Marvel movie on Mixed Signals from Semafor Media: pic.twitter.com/TcAmpCttXZ
— Semafor (@semafor) July 18, 2025Famously, the studio took the bait that Morbius' internet infamy meant fans must have a genuine craving for morbin' despite the film's sucky opening weekend box office returns. Regardless, the Jared Leto method-acted film showing a pulse for organic online fanfare resulted in Morbius returning to theaters thanks to all the memes. But while the combination of going viral and an unexpectedly sexy evil Matt Smith might not have been enough for cinematic greatness, well—congratulations, Marvel, you got tricked into releasing a vampire movie.
While Sony would go on to blame the children (and critics) for being wrong about its Spider-Man franchise building sans Peter Parker, Espinosa took Morbius' bad reviews in stride in a 2022 interview.
'Look, I have a lot of self-hatred so I have a lot of criticism of my own work,' Espinosa told Insider. 'I'm always trying to focus on being better. But I am also proud of what I do. There are parts in all of my movies that I'm really proud of.'
In a separate interview with Uproxx, Espinosa was asked how much of Morbius was actually his.
'I think that I work at my best if I get a lot of decision power,' Espinosa said. 'But, in these movies, they're big movies that have a lot of people's interest. It's different processes every time.'
While Espinosa didn't directly respond or implicate any studio executives, he did provide insight into what retrospectively seems to be a narrow escape for Aster regarding his association with Morbius. Bullet, or in this case, wooden stake, dodged.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Seth Meyers Gets Serious in Call for US Aid to Gaza: ‘If Even Trump' Acknowledged Their Starvation, It's ‘Long Past Time to Act'
"We are appalled by the unspeakable horrors currently unfolding in Gaza," the NBC host says Seth Meyers set aside his typical jokes for a few moments on Monday night to make a solemn call for U.S. aid to those suffering in Gaza — and to call out the Trump Administration for being 'complicit' in that suffering. During his 'A Closer Look' segment, Meyers noted that the 'horror of what is happening in Gaza' is 'so obvious' that even Trump himself was made to acknowledge it earlier on Monday. Indeed, the president was asked by members of the press if he agrees with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there's no starvation in Gaza. More from TheWrap Every Upcoming Marvel TV Show Coming to Disney Plus Seth Meyers Points Out Trump Says 'Worse Things About Windmills Than He Says About Jeffrey Epstein' | Video Anne Burrell's Final 'Worst Cooks' Co-Host Remembers Food Network Star as 'Larger Than Life' | Video Netflix's 'Untamed' Renewed for Season 2, Turning Limited Series Into an Ongoing Show 'I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry,' Trump said. In another press event, the president added, 'Some of those kids are — that's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake that.' 'If even Trump is forced to acknowledge the reality of the crisis, that means it is long past time to act and end the suffering,' Meyers said. 'Unfortunately, we have an administration that seems concerned mainly with golf, cover-ups and windmills.' The 'Late Night' host was quick to point out Trump's comments just a day prior, when the president was asked if Israel should be doing more to allow food into Gaza. In response, Trump immediately complained that Gazans aren't being grateful enough to the U.S. as is. 'Well, you know, we gave $60 million two weeks ago and nobody even acknowledged it, for food,' he said. 'And it's terrible. You know, you really at least want to have somebody say thank you.' 'So many responses you could go with first,' Meyers scoffed. 'We need to feed the children, we need to end the killing, we need a cease-fire and to free the hostages. But only Trump could respond with 'Ahem! Does anyone have anything to say to me?' like a DoorDash driver looking for a rating.' The comedian then pushed back at any critics who might argue that 'Late Night' is a comedy show and thus should only make jokes, rather than get serious on matters such as this. 'We try, every day. We try,' he said seriously. 'But we're also human beings, and we are appalled by the unspeakable horrors currently unfolding in Gaza. And our government is complicit, which is why we have a duty as Americans to speak out on a horrific crisis that has been foreseeable for a long time.' You can watch Seth Meyers' full 'A Closer Look' segment in the video above. The post Seth Meyers Gets Serious in Call for US Aid to Gaza: 'If Even Trump' Acknowledged Their Starvation, It's 'Long Past Time to Act' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.


Gizmodo
38 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
Guillermo del Toro's ‘Frankenstein' Looks Absolutely Stunning
When Guillermo del Toro finally got the chance to make his dream project, an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, you just knew it was going to be beautiful. Del Toro's films are known for a lot of things, and sumptuous production design and costumes are right near the top of the list. So, it almost goes without saying that a group of new images from the film are stunning, but these almost go beyond that. First revealed in an article by Vanity Fair and then released by Netflix, 10 new images from Frankenstein show characters, scenes, and interpretations that were previously kept secret. Here they are, all at once, and we can discuss a few of them in more detail below. Clearly, we could write tomes on the beauty of each of these images. The costumes, the sets, the locations. Each one is also framed in an interesting way that helps tell a story. But, we won't do that. What we will do, though, is fill in a few questions about who's who in these photos. Del Toro himself is just in that first image, along with Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein. We see Victor in his lab in a later photo, too. The photo on the steps is of Victor as a child with his mother, and a little later, you see Victor again (played at a younger age by Christian Convery) with his father, played by Charles Dance. The photo of someone holding a photo is, indeed, Elordi's monster, who we see covered in a cloak further down. Mia Goth plays Elizabeth, Victor's soon-to-be sister-in-law, who both he and the monster become infatuated with. The second photo of Goth is with her fiancé, Victor's brother William Frankenstein, played by Felix Kammerer. That leaves the man in the top hat, an arms dealer played by Christoph Waltz, and that mysterious photo among the flowers. That's Sofia Galasso and David Bradley as a little girl and a blind man who are in the original book. What does it all mean? We'll find out in November when Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein comes to Netflix. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.


Forbes
39 minutes ago
- Forbes
Kevin Feige Says ‘Captain America: Brave New World' Suffered From No Chris Evans
Captain America: Brave New World A new quote from Marvel head Kevin Feige on the fate of one of the only not-great superhero movies of the year, Captain America: Brave New World, has sparked a whole lot of debate over the course of the past day. Feige, at a recent roundtable event, discussed the issues with Brave New World and said 'It was the first without Chris Evans' as a reason it struggled. Perhaps not the only reason, but the rationale is being described as 'blunt,' to day the least. He's not wrong. This is not to say that new star and new Captain America Anthony Mackie did anything wrong, but he had not been set-up to succeed in any capacity. First, he had his entire 'becoming Cap' journey shuffled into a Disney Plus series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, that far fewer people would watch compared to a film. And as it turned out, it was actually better than his actual debut film. Second, mantle passing is just…incredibly difficult, especially in this case. Yes, this is something that happens in the comics eventually, but in the context of the MCU it's important to consider that Chris Evans' Steve Rogers was Cap 11 times over nine years. Sam only appeared as supporting character Falcon during that time, and only managed two appearances as the new Cap across five years (certainly Marvel's fault there). Captain America This would have happened with any role. If Jane Foster stuck around to become the new Thor in her own film, that would have underperformed past Thor movies. If She-Hulk (as a Hulk replacement) was a film, that would not have done well. If Ironheart (as an Iron Man replacement) was a film, that would not have done well. We just saw Yelena more or less sub in as the new Black Widow leading the Thunderbolts and that…did not do well, and that time the movie was even good. And if they actually made John Walker the real Captain America leading a whole film, I doubt it would have done any better than Brave New World. Feige is right. The movie suffered from not having Chris Evans, though that should not be taken as a knock against Mackie's performance. There were also plenty of other, very clear reasons the movie was bad as mainly, after awful editing and big reworks, it ended up being a baffling sequel to The Incredible Hulk, complete with the 'surprise climax' of President Ross turning into Red Hulk being the full-on marketing campaign, giving the film literally no dramatic tension. As it stands, it seems that Mackie's Sam Wilson is poised to be the new leader of the not-yet-really-reassembled Avengers, but once we get past Doomsday and Secret Wars, which will be a massive ensemble featuring Thor, Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four and a bunch of X-Men, I do wonder what his actual future holds. We may not see him much after this, just like we haven't the last five years. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.