Sony finally dropped the trailer to Morbius, their next superhero movie based on the Marvel anti-hero of the same name. And we finally get confirmation that it's connected to Sony's Spiderman.
For those who don't know him, Morbius first appeared as one of Spiderman's rogues. However, Marvel eventually developed him to be his own anti-hero, sometimes clashing with the friendly neighborhood webslinger, sometimes fighting alongside him. In his original origin story, Michael Morbius was a sickly child with a rare blood disease. However, he was also gifted with immense intelligence, allowing him to win several prestigious awards such as the Nobel Prize. However, he was always dissatisfied with his figure and went out to search for a cure, eventually ingesting vampire bat DNA that gave him vampire-like powers.
Morbius' superpowers include echolocation, pretty much like bats, increased physical strength and regeneration, heightened night vision, and reflexes. However, since he isn't a true vampire, he doesn't inherit the weaknesses of the species, such as apprehension to daylight. He does, however, suffer from the same-blood craze that requires him to feast on blood - Human blood, to be more exact.
Meet the Cast and Crew
Playing the titular character is Jared Leto, who is known as one of the actors who played the Joker in Suicide Squad. Leto is joined by Matt Smith (best known as his role in Doctor Who), who plays Loxias Crown, Morbius's friend, who suffers from the same blood disease. Adjria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal also join the crew. Michael Keaton is also part of the cast, further cementing the connection of Morbius with the Spiderman film verse.
The film is directed by Swedish director Daniel Espinosa, who directed the sci-fi horror film Life in 2017. Veteran English cinematographer and BAFTA Award winner Oliver Wood, who is known for his work in Die Hard 2 and the Bourne series, joins as the film's cinematographer. Fellow Swede Jon Ekstrand, who previously worked with Daniel Espinosa, composes the film's soundtrack.
Crossover from another Universe
While Morbius isn't exactly a Marvel Studios production, the connection between the second revamped universe of Sony's Spiderman and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in undeniable. Michael Keaton's appearance (who we assume will still play The Vulture) in Morbius's recent trailer shows that the film is indeed connected to the new Spiderman. The trailer also shows, in one scene, a poster of Spiderman with a 'murderer' written as graffiti over it. This is a reference to the ending of Spiderman: Homecoming, where (spoiler alert), Mysterio, right before his death, released an edited video to J. Jonah Jameson where Spiderman is framed to be responsible for the death of Mysterio.
It will be interesting to see how Sony plans to further develop its own cinematic universe based on Marvel's properties. Marvel has already announced that they plan to reboot Blade, and it would be interesting to see how the Dhampir vampire hunter interacts with a pseudo-vampire.
Morbius joins Venom in Sony's Marvel Universe, with other characters such as Nightwatch, Kraven the Hunter, Black Cat, and The Sinister Six currently in development.
SEE ALSO: 'Venom' Is Breaking Box-Office Records Despite Bad Reviews
