Sony has released the trailer for Morbius. It’s their latest Marvel-adjacent property as they seek to build their own quasi-cinematic universe using only the heroes they have the rights to. Hence Morbius, a lesser-known Marvel Comics character who made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 in October 1971 as Dr. Michael Morbius, a biochemist searching for a cure to his rare blood disease.
In the search for a cure, Morbius accidentally turns himself into a superhuman vampire. That origin story is pretty much what’s being told in this film, which stars Jared Leto in the lead role. Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Life) is directing.
The project spent over a decade in development at Sony before finally shooting last February. Judging by the trailer, maybe Sony should have developed it for even longer. This looks like a very generic superhero origin story much more in line with the silliness of Sony’s Venom. Of course, no matter how silly people thought that film was, it still made $850 million at the worldwide box office.
There’s also a cameo from Michael Keaton at the end, presumably as his Spider-Man: Homecoming character Adrian Toomes. This has led fans to believe that Sony may be building towards a Sinister Six movie. That’s a big ask if every film leading up to that one is a generic origin story. Audiences will surely need something a little more original than that.
Morbius also stars Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, and Jared Harris. It hits cinemas Friday, July 31st. Can it perform similarly to Venom?
#Peace.Love.Morbius
