Venom scored at the box office despite some dodgy reviews, so Sony's plans to keep spinning off the Spider-Man characters it owns outside of Marvel's scope continues. We already know that Jared Leto is on to play villain-turned-whatever-they-decide Morbius The Living Vampire and he'll be joined on screen by Matt Smith.
Life's Daniel Espinosa is attached to direct, and Morbius will adapt Roy Thomas and Gil Kane's character, originally launched in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man in 1971. It'll spotlight Michael Morbius (Leto), 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.
Smith's role has yet to be revealed, though Variety has heard it'll be a big part of the film. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the most recent draft, but we'll have to wait for a release date. With his days on The Crown behind him, Smith has been concentrating on movies. He'll be seen in biopic Mapplethorpe this year, as well as thriller His House and then little-known indie title Star Wars: Episode IX, out on 19 December.
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