Morbius

We last covered Morbius in January 2020; while it’s perhaps obvious why there was a delay of nearly two years, the wait is almost over. Whereas in a previous trailer the musical conceit was a play on Beethoven’s über-popular “Für Elise”, this time we get a trailerized cover version of The Doors’ “People Are Strange” (1967, from Strange Days). The lyrics are on point—“people are strange, when you’re a stranger”—and while there’s an element of obviousness to it, it’s clever enough of a turn on the meaning of the original tune, and the vocals are partly obscured by orchestral atmospherics anyway.

The first thirty seconds or so of the trailer start as such, with soft, plaintive piano playing the tune completed by persistent, high strings. A fade to black is complemented by silence at 0:36, which precedes the roar of a colony of bats bursting forth from a cave; Morbius (Jared Leto) screams, smothered by the winged rodents, as another blackout occurs at 0:42.

This then leads to the full-blooded Doors tune, synched to the studio title cards at 0:44. Just a moment later, however, it gives way to offscreen dialogue, in the services of advancing the narrative, as the second minute of a three-minute trailer is wont to do. Jim Morrison’s lines hover over the dark scenes between the dialogue like a spectre; the lyrics turn into a sort of meta-diegetic commentary (“faces look ugly / when you’re alone”), matching the action. At 1:04 we get a jump scare after silence, and then the music subsides once again.

At 1:12 the music takes another turn, this time morphing into a sweeping, orchestral epic, almost dutifully relaying more exposition as we get a preview of Morbius’ transformation, powers, and subsequent struggle. Notice at 1:32 the use of special sound design to help convey the feeling of using sonar-related superpowers, leading to the return of the epic orchestral sweep at 1:36 as we witness Morbius in flight. The Doors return at 1:54, this time combining the original tune with some heavy dark synths that weren’t in the original. The orchestral segments and these synth-laden Doors sections form a duality that is suitable for what Sony calls “the enigmatic Marvel legend” who breaks “the line between hero and villain,” as supported by their graphic lettering. This time, Morrison’s vocals are delivered for more than a moment, weaving together an array of action and drama scenes as the tension ramps up.

At 2:18 the new arrangement of “People Are Strange” takes full effect, with a brass version of the main melody of the verse playing out against the epic chord progression, taking on an even more ineffable quality. The melody itself, played on brass, embraces qualities that could be construed as either heroic or villainous—while dipping into the harmonic minor key, it also moves by leaps with jubilance. It is appropriately enigmatic—as such, the musical choice here matches not only lyrical content but also melodic substance.

One more blackout at 2:41 recalls the opening third of the trailer before the melody of “People Are Strange” is played in a sombre, quiet manner on a dampened piano. This is a marked turn from the rendition with orchestral brass moments before, and a further expression of Morbius’ internal conflict that clearly drives this narrative. And then, as a coda, we get some percussion hits, the question “who the hell are you, man,” and Morbius’ joking turn phrase “I am Venom” (another of Sony’s properties), followed by “I am just kidding. Dr. Michael Morbius at your service.” But not to let the mood lighten, we get the percussion and bats one more time before the release title.

Morbius arrives in theatres January 28th.

— Curtis Perry