Since his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 in 1971, Dr. Michael Morbius has been presented as a rare vampire who gained the prerequisite powers and thirst for blood without actually becoming one of the undead. Instead, a scientific accident transformed Morbius into a “living vampire.” However, the final trailer for Sony Pictures’ adaptation of Morbius suggests that there may be more to him than previously thought. In fact, it indicates that Morbius may be a malevolent figure from legend who has come to life.
Jared Leto stars in the film as Michael Morbius, just six years after his turn as the Joker in Suicide Squad. As depicted in the movie and the comics, Morbius suffers from a life-threatening blood disease. That’s why he was desperate enough to experiment with vampire bats for his cure. What Morbius didn’t expect was the vampire bats would infect him and pass on abilities that are seemingly supernatural in nature.
The trailer also plays up the relationship between Morbius and his eventual nemesis, Loxias Crown (Matt Smith). Apparently, Morbius has called Loxias “Milo” since they were children. Loxias and Morbius also share the same blood affliction, which gives both of them a personal stake in the deterioration of their friendship. Now that Morbius has found his power and seemingly saved his own life, Loxias wants that for himself as well.
Another intriguing aspect of this trailer is the presence of Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. So far, Sony has been very vague about how this film connects to the previous Spider-Man movies. That said, there have been references to both Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland’s Spider-Men, and even a mention by name of Venom. Hopefully, the film will put these questions into context and provide some answers.
Adria Arjona also stars in the film as Martine Bancroft, Morbius’s fiancée and a fellow scientist. Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson have roles as secondary antagonists even though FBI agents Alberto Rodriguez (Madrigal) and Simon Stroud (Gibson) aren’t evil. Instead, they’re the agents in charge of hunting down Morbius.
Daniel Espinosa directed Morbius from a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. It will swoop into theaters on Friday, April 1.
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