During the press rounds for Spider-Man: Far From Home, producer Amy Pascal praised Jared Leto and said that the upcoming Morbius looks “really great.” Given that the only footage we’ve seen so far though has been a couple of still images and a brief video, the jury’s still most definitely out on this one after the last time the Academy Award-winning actor played a pale comic book character.
Sony may have leased their web-slinging crown jewel back to Marvel Studios after the disappointment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but that hasn’t stopped the studio from moving forward with their own series of spinoffs featuring Spidey’s rogues’ gallery. The Tom Hardy-led Venom was the first entry in their cinematic universe and made an impressive $855 million at the box office, despite less-than-enthusiastic reviews.
When asked about Morbius, Pascal responded by saying “Jared is fantastic. Who could be better? You can’t imagine. It’s fantastic. I’m not involved in that one, but the studio just wrapped, and I think it looks really great.” Who knows if Pascal has seen Suicide Squad or not, because Leto’s Juggalo-esque interpretation of the Joker came in for a fair share of criticism from fans and critics alike.
In any case, hiring well-known dramatic actors to lead their movies seems to be the approach Sony are taking to their spinoffs, and it’s one that’s worked so far, with Tom Hardy’s unhinged performance turning out to be one of Venom’s only redeeming qualities. With Leto determined to make his mark on a comic book movie after having large parts of his Suicide Squad performance left on the cutting room floor, the actor definitely has a point to prove.
Directed by Safe House filmmaker Daniel Espinosa, Morbius co-stars Jared Harris, Adria Arjona, Matt Smith and Tyrese Gibson, and hits theaters on July 31st, 2020.
