Comicbook fans already outraged that Jared Leto is the DCEU's current Joker won't be pleased by news that he's planning to crossover into Marvel territory. Or at least Sony's Spider-spin-off realm, snagging the lead in Morbius.
With Life's Daniel Espinosa attached to direct, the film will feature antihero Morbius The Living Vampire. It's the story of Michael Morbius, a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who tries to cure a rare blood disease using an experimental treatment that combines electroshock therapy and vampire bats. The results are predictably catastrophic, and he's transformed into... well, the title should be a clue. He has some of the traditional vampiric qualities – he ingests blood to live, and conversely is not fond of bright light. He can fly, has superhuman strength and healing capabilities. When he bites victims and drinks their blood, his attacks are often lethal, but he doesn't turn anyone into a bloodsucker himself.
Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane and first arriving in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man in 1971, Morbius was considered as a potential character when Artisan bought the rights to several Marvel titles as possible movies, but nothing came of it. Sony had writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless work up a draft last year, and will now put it on the development track.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.