Morbius Trailer Blurs the Line Between Hero and Villain

“The world is a vampire,” and now, so is Michael Morbius. Former Joker actor Jared Leto is entering the Marvel multiverse next year as the lead character in Sony’s Morbius.

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for Morbius, which finds Leto’s title character desperately searching for a cure to his blood disease. It’s a life or death struggle for Michael, and his time is rapidly running out. Unfortunately, in this case, the cure is worse than the disease. Michael has become infected with a strain of vampirism that has transformed him, body and soul. Unlike traditional vampires, Michael is alive and seemingly without their weaknesses. He also has a thirst for blood that may make Michael both the hero and the villain of his own story.

Not that Michael needs any more adversity in his life, especially with friends like Loxias Crown (Matt Smith). Loxias also suffers from the same blood disease that plagues Michael, but unlike him, Loxias is more than willing to cross any ethical lines to survive. Michael also has to worry about Simon Stroud (Tyrese Gibson) and Alberto Rodriguez (Al Madrigal), a pair of FBI agents who are tasked with hunting him down. As far as they’re concerned, Michael is just another bad guy who needs to be stopped.

Here’s where things get confusing. The trailer seemingly references every cinematic Spider-Man to date. The Sam Raimi-era costume worn by Tobey Maguire’s Spidey is visible on an alley wall, and references are made to Rhino and Black Cat from Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man movies. And yet Michael Keaton is reprising his role as Adrian Toomes/Vulture from the MCU Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

There’s even a reference to Spider-man as a “murderer,” and a call-out to Venom himself. What in the names of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is going on?

Adria Arjona also stars in Morbius as Martine Bancroft, Michael’s fiancée. Jared Harris’ character hasn’t been named, but he will mentor Michael in the film.

Morbius was written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, and directed by Daniel Espinosa. The film will hit theaters on January 28, 2022.

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