After playing one villain too many in Suicide Squad, Jared Leto has gone back to his method acting roots and transformed himself into yet another villainous character. This time, however, he’s taking on the role of Dr. Michael Morbius, one of Spider-Man’s longtime enemies who was created back in the ’60s when Marvel wasn’t even owned by Disney yet! If you want to see Leto in this new role, you can catch him next year in Sony’s Morbius movie. Jared Leto Becomes a Transgenic Vampire in ‘Morbius’
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Producers Chris Morgan and David Householter
The world has waited long enough. Dr. Michael Morbius, one of Spider-Man’s greatest villains, is ready for his cinematic close-up. In director Daniel Espinosa’s new take on Morbius: The Living Vampire, Jared Leto takes on that role as a scientist suffering from a rare blood disease whose attempts to cure himself afflict him with a form of transgenic vampirism.
Director Daniel Espinosa
It was very important to me that I could keep it grounded, and not have these over-the-top supervillains. So, we decided to focus on making Michael Morbius human and credible, rather than make him some kind of supervillain. He’s not Lex Luthor or Doctor Doom—he’s just a very intelligent scientist who got sick and tried to fix himself. But he didn’t do his research well enough, so he ended up becoming something else. And because he is still human, you can relate to him as an audience member—you don’t feel like you’re watching someone flying around with a cape. You’re watching someone struggling with something that is beyond their control. That’s what makes it scary: you can’t get away from it; there is no escape from your own body turning against you in such an extreme way.
Director Of Photography Robert Elswit
The production schedule allowed for extensive photography of Los Angeles, and that included Morbius’s vampiric first scenes. Since his blood was still warm and he was still undergoing treatments to cure his affliction, there was no reason for him to hide or be any less visible than he had been prior to his transformation. I think it’s important to remember that we are still seeing Michael as himself, just with some additional abilities, said Elswit. He has not yet become comfortable with what he is becoming—he hasn’t fully embraced it. He is still trying to deal with it in an intellectual way—his intellect being part of what made him such a good scientist before all of this happened.
Editor Bernat Vilaplana, Jared Leto Becomes a Transgenic Vampire in ‘Morbius’
Blade writer David S. Goyer adapted Morbius for Daniel Espinosa to direct, with Tom Hardy starring as scientist Michael Morbius and Jared Leto as his nemesis, Dr. Carlton Drake. It also stars Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, and Tyrese Gibson. In addition to its release date change, Sony moved up production on Morbius, with filming taking place in London beginning June 18th.
Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson
One of our favorite aspects of superhero films is when characters get costumes that are as detailed and thought-out as Iron Man’s suit. The costume designer plays an important role in making sure these superhero outfits live up to their comic book predecessors, so we sat down with Michael Wilkinson, who was tasked with creating villain Dr. Michael Morbius’ look for Sony Pictures’ Morbius, which he did using reference photos and inspiration from comics published by Marvel.
Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Chiang
I think to understand what our approach was and how we created him is kind of interesting. [Producer] Matt Tolmach and I went down to New Orleans to see Jared. We knew that we wanted to have some prosthetics on him, but we didn’t know necessarily how extensive or whether it would be through his whole body, because they can only do so much with make-up, you know?
Composer Marco Beltrami
Beltrami has scored numerous films, including all three installments of director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series, as well as winning awards for his work on David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Morbius is said to take place within Sony’s Marvel universe, which means that at some point down the line it could be possible for Morbius to make an appearance alongside Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and other members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Production Designer Oliver Scholl
Oliver Scholl is an Australian production designer, art director and costume designer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction: Cinderella Man (2005), Australia (2008) and The Great Gatsby (2013). Scholl grew up on a farm outside Geelong where he developed his interests in painting, drawing and wildlife photography. After completing his tertiary education at RMIT University, Melbourne in Interior Architecture & Design he worked as an illustrator before moving into film.
Plot Synopsis
(Via IMDB) A scientist with a blood disease, who happens to be suffering from a fatal attraction to his fiancée’s close friend, is bitten by a vampire bat and becomes one himself. The Spider-Man spinoff stars Jared Leto and Keira Knightley. David S. Goyer is directing based on an earlier script by Daniel Casey. Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad are producing. Release date: July 31st, 2020 (USA).
Will Michael Keaton be in Morbius?
Michael Keaton appeared as Spider-Man’s nemesis, The Vulture, and as Batman’s adversary, The Penguin, in last year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and Batman Returns, respectively. However, though it was reported earlier that Keaton was circling Morbius with other actors such as Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Adria Arjona (True Detective) and Jared Leto (Suicide Squad), none of them will be starring alongside Michael Keaton.
Who plays Dr. Michael Morbius?
The latest film to enter Sony’s Marvel Universe is Morbius, starring Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, who suffers from a rare blood disease that drives him to extreme lengths as he attempts to cure himself. For those not familiar with the comic book character, here’s what you need to know about him before seeing him on screen.
Is Michael Keaton playing vulture in Morbius?
The first images of Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, a scientist suffering from a rare blood disease whose attempts to cure himself afflict him with a form of transgenic vampirism, have been released. The film is based on characters appearing in Spider-Man comics published by Marvel Comics and will see Michael Morbius teaming up with Peter Parker’s old nemesis, Spider-Man.
Is Morbius movie Cancelled?
The Morbius movie adaptation has been cancelled. The film was officially announced back in 2014 with Jared Leto set to star as Dr. Michael Morbius, who becomes afflicted with vampiric abilities after attempting to cure himself of a rare blood disease. After much development hell, Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) signed on to direct and filming began last year.