Pseudo vampire Jared Leto has “an overpowering urge to consume blood” in the first trailer for Sony’s “Morbius.” Watch the video above.
“Morbius” is one of several projects being developed by Sony based on characters from the “Spider-Man” comics. The franchise paid dividends for the studio in 2018 with “Venom,” which grossed $855 million worldwide, and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which grossed $327 million and earned a Best Animated Feature Oscar last year. Both films have sequels in the works.
Daniel Espinosa directed “Morbius” from a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and Lucas Foster produced the film with Palak Patel overseeing for the studio.
The Morbius character was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane and first appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man” issue no. 101 in 1971. In the comics, Michael Morbius is a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who is transformed into a vampire while attempting to cure a rare blood disease with a highly experimental approach involving electroshock therapy… and vampire bats.
As a “pseudo-vampire,” Morbius does not possess all the powers of an actual vampire, and isn’t subject to all the traditional limitations and weaknesses thereof, according to Marvel lore.
He must digest blood to survive and has a strong aversion to light, like most vampires. But he also has the ability to fly, has superhuman strength, speed and healing abilities. His bite tends to be lethal, but his victims do not necessarily become vampires themselves.
Morbius almost made it to the big screen before. In 2000, when Arad was president and CEO of Marvel Studios, the company entered into an agreement with Artisan Entertainment to turn at least 15 Marvel superhero franchises into live-action films, television series, direct-to-video films or internet projects. Morbius would have been among the franchises.
“Morbius,” which stars Jared Leto, Tyrese Gibson and J.K. Simmons, is set to open in theaters on July 31.