Jared Leto is Morbius in First Trailer for the Blood-Sucking Superhero Film
While Marvel is beginning its’ Phase 4 and DC has a slew of upcoming projects, from Birds of Prey to The Batman, Sony has just released the first teaser trailer Morbius, which finds Jared Leto in the title role as Dr. Michael Morbius, one of Marvel’s more complicated antiheroes. Directed by Daniel Espinoza, Morbius tells the story of its titular doctor Michael Morbius attempting to save other people suffering from the same fatal blood disease he has. Morbius is a brilliant doctor, and what at first appears to be a potentially game-changing scientific breakthrough becomes, in short order, the beginning of the good doctor’s transformation into the blood-sucking antihero. The new trailer suggests a connection to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe while still delivering a stand-alone look at a very bizarre character.
Sony has their excellent new Spider-Man franchise, with Tom Holland in the title role, as well as their new Venom film series, with Andy Serkis helming the sequel, so Morbius makes for a third, possibly vastly different new franchise. Venom proved there’s plenty of appetite for a non-traditional central character, yet Morbius is an altogether different kind of beast. In fact, while Venom was a bloody thriller, Morbius could inch Sony a touch closer to a superhero horror film, like Disney now has with The New Mutants.
Morbius boasts a well-known leading man in Leto, with some really strong supporting players joining him. Those include the always excellent Jared Harris, Michael Keaton, rising star Adria Arjona, Tyrese Gibson, and Matt Smith.
Check out the new trailer here:
Here’s the official synopsis from Sony:
One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar® winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease.
Morbius will hit theaters on July 31, 2020.
Featured image: Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) in Columbia Pictures’ MORBIUS. Courtesy Sony Pictures.
