Appearing on the Joe Rogan Experience, Robert Downey Jr., who deftly turned the formerly mid-tier hero Iron Man into a household name over the course of nine films in ten years that culminated with this year's record-breaking Avengers: Endgame, spent over an hour discussing his fascinating life and career, particularly within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While reflecting on the transition of superhero fiction from campy amusement to serious cinema (the opinions of Martin Scorcese notwithstanding), the two briefly touched on another iconic superhero.
In the wake of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' announcement of a slate of award nominees for this year's Oscars that is once again overwhelmingly Caucasian and significantly male – a decision that inspired the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag just five years ago – one of the biggest names in popular literature is drawing criticism for defending the homogeneity of this year's nominees.
Morbius, the forthcoming entry in Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters, is poised to take its place in a diverse literary lineage stretching back more than 200 years. The gothic figure of the vampire, going back to Nosferatu and Dracula, was originally tied to demons, and has transitioned over time to become linked to natural sources and, more lately, scientific origins. This is where Morbius falls on the spectrum, with its eponymous character using his vast knowledge of "science and medicine...to find a cure for the disease that he's afflicted with and that others like him have," and inadvertently turning himself into a vampiric monstrosity instead.
The Marvel fandom has been served a double dose of superheroics today, as a new "special look" at the forthcoming Black Widow film aired this evening during the College Football Playoff National Championship following this morning's release of the first Morbius trailer.
The first official trailer for Sony's superhero vampire film Morbius debuted this morning, and while fans have been gnawing on the meat of the nearly-three-minute preview ever since, one clip in particular has captured the meticulous attention of the Internet. In the teaser's final moments, Dr. Morbius briefly encounters a man played by none other than Michael Keaton, who quotes Bugs Bunny's catchphrase at him by asking: "What's up, Doc?"
Before there were X-Men in movie theaters, before there was Spider-Man, before Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk teamed-up to become the Avengers, and long before Logan, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 proved that R-rated comic book films based on Marvel properties could be financially lucrative ventures, there was Blade. And according to a deleted alternate ending available on the Blu-ray release, the film was also meant to introduce none other than Dr. Michael Morbius, the Living Vampire, in a cliffhanger scene intended to set up the character's return in the sequel.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is one of the most highly anticipated entries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's fourth phase. And now, just to make things even more exciting, we're hearing that it may feature an unanticipated antagonist in the form of Wanda Maximoff herself.
When the long-awaited trailer for this May's sorely overdue Black Widow posthumous solo outing debuted back in early December of 2019, fans were ecstatic to see the first brief glimpses of at least one of the film's antagonist, Taskmaster, confirming our source's whispers from March of last year when they told us he'd be the villain. In just over three seconds of footage, the villain emerges from the roof-hatch of an urban assault vehicle wielding a bow and arrow, and later battles David Harbour's Red Guardian hand-to-hand in what may be the Red Room Academy itself.
Martin Freeman admits that, while he knows he'll be involved in the sequel to Black Panther in some capacity, he has no idea what part he'll be playing.
This summer's Morbius is slated to become the second film in the so-called Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters franchise populated by the studio's roster of Spider-Man characters, and the first trailer is now set to debut at 6am PST on January 13th, the same day that Black Widow's exclusive new look is scheduled to premiere during the College Football Playoff National Championship.
