Morbius and New Mutants Crossing Over Into Horror Is Smart For Superhero Movies – Screen Rant

The superhero moviesMorbiusandNew Mutantsare attempting to cross over into horror by adapting traits of the genre and marketing themselves as crossover (or even just straight up horror) movies; is this a smart idea?

The rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe have plunged superhero movies into the forefront of mainstream media. The movies make insane amounts of money, the franchises have limitless potential for crossovers, and the merchandising is endless. Similarly, there has been an uprising in the horror genre with major franchise names likeHalloweenbeing brought back into the forefront, though the genre never truly has gone entirely out of style. In the past, gritty, darker takes on superhero movies such as Christopher Nolan's tenure directing theBatmanmovies, have done tremendously well with adult audiences. However, Marvel movies tend to be, on the whole, appropriate for younger audiences, or at least more so than the horror genre.

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While there have been some attempts at crossover on the horror side, such as with 2019's James Gunn produced evil superhero movie,Brightburn, it didn't quite stick the landing. This could have been for numerous reasons, though the gore-laden movie about how dangerous superheroes can actually be if they're not inclined to be good had a unique thought process. This idea was streamlined into a clearer, more popular vision with Amazon Prime's series,The Boys. Truthfully, there's plenty of room for crossover in both directions, and it's a good idea all-around - here's why.

WhileNew MutantsandMorbiusaren't the only superhero movies crossing over into horror, they are two that could use the boost the most.New Mutantsis the newest installment of a franchise,X-Men, that hasn't been as successful with recent entries in the past. Therefore, it needs something unique and different to kickstart it in another direction. With a fresh face cast of characters including Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), and Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), there's some familiarity with what it takes to deliver performances that can be recognized in the horror space. The anti-hero principle doesn't seem like it'll come into play here; instead, the young mutants are trying to escape a facility that likely holds more danger to them than good, though the premise states that they must "fight their past sins and save themselves".

Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who worked together on the horror film,Sinister, also worked together to create the first standaloneDoctor Strangemovie. Derrickson, who will be directingDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, has said that it will also be a horror movie. This likely set the pace for others to follow.New MutantsandDoctor Strange's sequel seem to be managing the crossover by taking elements that already work and adding in horror, where movies likeBrightburn missed the markby taking elements of horror and trying to incorporate superhero elements in a unique setting when really, it was like evil Superman.

Morbiuscould manage the crossover effectively because he, likeSpawn, is a character that is already steeped in horror and exists in comics with a full story all his own. Morbius' character is aSpider-Manvillain, which makes the movie a second attempt at giving a villain from that franchise its own stand-alone film. Morbius, who suffers from a rare genetic blood disease, accidentally turned himself into a "living vampire" through various experiments to find a cure. His abilities are similar to the vampire tales of old, and, though he's noDracula, it creates a natural path between superhero movies and horror in a sensible way. However these films end up, given the success of each genre on its own, there's likely more to be explored here in the future.

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh. Follow him on Twitter @JackMacabre or his dog on Instagram @quillthethrill.

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Morbius and New Mutants Crossing Over Into Horror Is Smart For Superhero Movies - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero