An old creature joins the big screen superpowered in Morbius, the latest from director Daniel Espinosa.
The full title of the comic book character gives away the game: Morbius, the Living Vampire. The titular doctor with a blood disease who ventures into a cave of bats and comes out with familiar powers appears to be one of the many superheroes with pseudo-biological origins, but there are some of the old folktales in him as well. The normal vampire things include consuming human blood and getting a bumpy face, but there also appears to be some not so standard powers on the list. So is he a mythical vampire or the “real” creature the vampire tales are based on? And more importantly, will he use his abilities for good or evil?
Since this movie is under the Sony label, it can go in more varied directions than a standard MCU movie (how much, if any, this will be connected to that universe is unclear). That makes the bits we’ve seen of Morbius, including this trailer, a bit of a question mark in terms of how much it will lean into its horror elements and the thorny questions at its perimeter, but the presence of Espinosa does seem to indicate that it won’t be the most straightforward superhero/supervillain movie. He’s a man with several action films under his belt as well as the failed crime drama Child 44 and successful Alien descendent Life, none of which add up to any clear strengths or weaknesses that he might lean on as he wades into superpowered creature movies for the first time.
At least you can anticipate what you’ll get from Jared Leto in the title role, who seems to be bringing his usual uncomplicated intensity. That just might work for the role, and the strong supporting cast, which includes Michael Keaton, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, and the smooth philosophizing of Jared Harris, can add ambiguity around him.
We’ve been teased this for a while after a long COVID delay (it was supposed to come out in the summer of 2020), but with a release date secured and big movies consistently releasing, looks like we’re finally going to see what’s going on here.
Morbius is directed by Daniel Espinosa and stars Jared Leto, Adria Arjona, and Michael Keaton. It will be released in the UK on January 21st, 2022 and in the US on January 28th, 2022. For international release dates, click here.
Are you looking forward to a big screen taste of this character? Let us know in the comments!
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