Morbius Pushed to October 2021
Since theater-going remains uncertain amid the coronavirus pandemic, Morbius will not be released in theaters on March 18th as planned. Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have delayed the Morbius release a second time, but this time moving the release date to October 8th, 2021. Since most movies that were once scheduled for early 2021 have already been pushed back due to the pandemic, this move by Sony and Marvel isn’t much of a surprise.
Leto’s Morbius the Living Vampire
Morbius stars Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist (at least in the comics) who suffers from a rare blood disease. After attempting to cure himself with an experimental treatment, he turns into a living vampire. However, unlike other creatures of the night, Morbius the Living Vampire has a conscience and swears off drinking the blood of innocents.
Photo: CNN
And honestly, if you can think of a role better suited to someone’s eccentricities than Morbius is for Leto, then let me know. I’m not sure that’s a great thing for the infamous method actor. As the Crown Prince of Gotham, he was already sending his costars dead pigs and live rats before he even took on the role of the Living Vampire.
Photo: Jeff Vespa / WireImage
So in honor of the film’s delay, let’s hope he doesn’t spend as much time as Morbius Method Actor Jared Leto as he did as Mistah J Method Actor Jared Leto. If you want to read more about the horror of working with the living embodiment of Mistah J, then check out this great rundown from MTV: Every Crazy Thing The Suicide Squad Cast Has Said About Jared Leto’s Joker.
The Sony Pictures’ Universe Meets the MCU
Morbius is a notorious Spider-Man foe, and comes from the arsenal of Marvel characters under the Sony banner. While Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies are tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Sony is attempting to launch its own interconnected comic book world with Leto’s antihero and Venom, the alien symbiote portrayed by Tom Hardy,” according to Variety.
Photo: Sony Pictures
In fact, Michael Keaton, who played The Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming, appears to be reprising his role in some capacity in Morbius. The first trailer for the upcoming movie showed a brief clip of Keaton and Leto exchanging lines, suggesting for the first time that that Sony Pictures’ Universe of Marvel characters is connected to Disney’s MCU.
Photo: Sony Pictures
Morbius was directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Easy Money) and penned by the writing team Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Dracula Untold, The Last Witch Hunter, Power Rangers), and the movie is expected to hit theaters October 8th, 2021.
It’s too bad that they can’t just release this movie for streaming instead!