Marvel is keeping itself occupied on multiple fronts and pushing to tell new stories all the time. While the MCU is one of the most successful film franchises in human history, Marvel is hoping to repeat its success with its Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, including the upcoming Morbius starring Jared Leto.
The story of a scientist whose experiment goes horribly awry, Morbius has the makings of a gothic horror story. Michael Morbius confronted his blood disorder diagnosis by turning himself into a vampire accidentally. This left him a major figure in the supernatural part of Marvel and a major antagonist for Spider-Man.
He won’t be an antagonist in his own movie though. Much like Venom, he’ll be standing on his own two feet and presumably go up against a brand new enemy. There is a lot to unpack as far as Morbius is concerned both in front of and behind the camera. Sony is building towards something exciting, and Morbius is a part of it. Let’s break down just what we know about Morbius in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.
What We Know About the Cast
Everyone knows that Jared Leto will be playing Michael Morbius, the biologist turned living vampire. Producer Avi Arad shared with Collider that the actor is excited to bring Morbius to life.
“This is the great thing for us now, that an actor like him, and an actor like Tom wanted to have their own character. But the character they love.”
We know that Leto is being joined by Tyrese Gibson. He’s also being joined by Jared Harris, Matt Smith, and Adria Ajona as the film’s female lead. Smith will be playing Loxias Crown, a “friend of Morbius who also has a blood disease” according to WeGotThisCovered. Just who the rest of the actors are playing remains to be seen. Morbius’s rogues’ gallery includes a who’s who of Marvel’s supernatural universe.
Morbius has one of the darker descents into super-villainy and eventual anti-heroism in the Marvel Universe. Sony has assembled an all-star cast who look to be joining Leto on the path to darkness.
What We’ve Seen So Far
Leto’s embracing his inner darkness wholeheartedly. The actor has shared two official images from the series. The first offers fans a glimpse of the Morbius logo (that looks a lot like the Venom logo).
Most recently the actor shared a moving gif depicting a haunting look at the “living vampire.” Sporting an oversized hoodie, Morbius appears to be burdened with glorious purpose, or at least with a terrifying destiny. The actor’s line is directly quoted from the comics, delivering that same gothic horror that Marvel’s supernatural comics made so special.
Morbius isn’t all gloom and doom, however. Leto shared a “fueling up” video to his Twitter feed with a hilarious image of him drinking blood. It’s nice to see that for such a dark looking film the actor isn’t potentially afraid to share the laughs.
What Morbius‘s Creator Thinks About the Film
Jared Leto cares about bringing Morbius to life and respecting the source material, something that should please fans of the Spider-Man rival. The actor called Morbius’s co-creator Roy Thomas for advice. Thomas praised Morbius and the cast and crew’s attention to detail. According to CBR, Thomas thinks they “nailed it.”
“Had a nice conversation this afternoon [Sat. 3-15-19] with Jared Leto, the Oscar-winning actor who plays Morbius in the upcoming film about the character that Gil Kane and I created back in 1971,” Thomas said. “Jared phoned from London and we had a talk about the origins, motivations, and torment of the character. Sounds to me as if he and the producers, directors, et al., have definitely nailed Morbius as we conceived him, and I look forward to seeing the movie. I would guess it will come out in 2020.”
No matter how strange it might seem to have Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters so focused on anti-heroes, it takes a solid understanding of the character to adapt it. With Roy Thomas convinced they understand the character, that’s a major blessing. If Sony has won over Morbius’s creator, they’re clearly about to do something special with the character.
Venom was a surprise hit for Sony. The character was initially a foe of Spider-Man and has had 30 years to develop into an anti-hero. Morbius has primarily been a Spider-Man villain. While he had a short mini-series run as an anti-hero, there’s a lot to fill in for the film’s writers and its star. If Jared Leto could accomplish this, it will be interesting to see just what Sony has in store for it’s living vampire.
Are you excited for Morbius? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!