2018’s Venom surpassed Sony’s expectations and managed to kick off their Spider-Man spinoff universe in a big way. Given that, they powered on ahead with another solo movie starring one of the web-head’s villains. Morbius features Suicide Squad‘s Joker, Jared Leto, as the titular Living Vampire and was filmed in England last spring/summer. A few set photos gave us our first hint at what was to come, then, but this first trailer finally allows us to sink our teeth into the movie, and so far, it’s looking pretty promising.
From what we can see here, Morbius seems to be closely following the character’s origins from the comics. Leto’s Michael Morbius is a biochemist who suffers from a rare blood disease. In order to cure himself, he attempts a risky procedure – in the comics, this involves vampire bat DNA and electroshock therapy – on himself, which results in him turning into a vampire. Even without the Spider-Man connection, this premise is a solid one for a sci-fi/horror flick, so hopefully we’re in for some good pulpy fun.
But the Spider-verse links are obviously what we’re watching for. Reports say Tom Holland may even swing by for a cameo, now that Marvel and Sony’s partnership has strengthened since the Spider-Man re-negotiations. Meanwhile, J.K. Simmons could be in with a chance of popping up as J. Jonah Jameson, too. Neither of them are seen here, but we do get a glimpse of a painting of the web-slinger on a wall behind Morbius at one point, while Michael Keaton’s Vulture makes a shocking appearance, too.
As for the principal cast, Adria Arjona plays Michael’s fiancee, Martine Bancroft, while Matt Smith is his nemesis, Loxias Crown. Furthermore, Jared Harris is Morbius’ currently unnamed mentor, while Tyrese Gibson is Simon Stroud, an FBI agent on the vampire’s tail. Interestingly, Gibson has signed a three-picture deal, so he could crossover to other Sony projects, too.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa, you can take a bite out of Morbius when it flies into cinemas on July 31st, 2020. Whether it’ll manage to hit the same numbers as Venom at the box office remains to be seen, but let us know if you’re planning on checking it out after seeing this exciting first trailer.