'Morbius' trailer teases Jared Leto as yet another horror-themed Spider-Man villain in MCU
Sony Pictures has just released the first teaser trailer for 'Morbius,' a horror-themed movie about a scientist who transforms himself into a powerful creature that craves blood.
The trailer features Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a genetic scientist who has devoted his life to curing a rare blood disease that he suffers from. In the process, he turns himself into a stronger, faster, more agile creature with a range of new abilities, but one who is also cursed with "an overpowering urge to consume blood." He is the second of Sony-owned characters from the 'Spider-Man' line to receive his own spinoff movie, the first being Tom Hardy's 'Venom.' Both characters are much darker, horror-themed villains who fight against their own monstrous urges, a stark contrast to Tom Holland's light-hearted 'Spider-Man.'
According to an interview with IGN, 'Morbius' will deal with the conflict of the light side vs. the dark — a recurring theme, it would seem, in Sony's Spider spinoffs.
"There's a line in the film where Morbius says he's been dying his entire life and now feels more alive than ever. And I think that sums it up,” Leto told IGN. “Here's someone who's been afflicted with this horrendous disease and has had all kinds of challenges and has been in pursuit of this cure. And then all of a sudden has this power and this physical strength, which is all incredible, but there is a flip side to it, as well. There's a dark side. So that battle between the light and dark is something that he fights throughout the film.”
However, unlike 'Venom,' the teaser trailer actually has direct references to the 'Spider-Man' MCU films. There is a poster seen in the background that Morbius walks by, showing a picture of 'Spider-Man' with the word 'murderer' scrawled across it. Though the picture is actually the Sam Raimi version of the 'Spider-Man' costume taken from the 2018 Sony 'Spider-Man' PS4 video game, the word 'murderer' scrawled across it is a clear reference to the MCU 'Spider-Man.' When we last saw Spider-Man (Tom Holland) at the end of 'Spider-Man: Far From Home,' he had been framed for murder by the villain, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).
The second reference is an appearance by Michael Keaton, who played the Vulture on 'Spider-Man: Homecoming,' evidently reprising his role to connect 'Morbius' to Spider-Man's corner of the MCU. Whether Keaton's appearance is a cameo, or indicative of a larger role has not yet been made clear.
'Morbius' is set to release in theaters on July 31, 2020.