Jared Leto is finally getting a solo movie about his Hot Topic Joker from Suicide Squad, but in the sort of cruel twist that only the Clown Prince Of Crime himself could think of, he’s also jumping ship from DC Comics to Sony’s corner of the Marvel universe. As reported by Variety, Leto has signed on to star in Morbius, a Spider-Man spin-off about the “living vampire” from Marvel Comics. Leto was apparently attached for a long time, but he wouldn’t commit to the movie until he was reasonably assured that Sony was taking the movie “in the right direction.” We don’t know if Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will actually appear in the movie, but as with Venom, it seems unlikely.
In the comics, Morbius was a scientist with a fatal blood disease who accidentally turned himself into a vampire (basically) in an attempt to find a cure. He drinks blood, he has fangs, and he wears a cape, which are all the telltale signs of someone who is a vampire. With Leto playing him, the movie Morbius will probably be a weirdo creep who is very intense and has a forehead tattoo that says something like “living vampire.”
Morbius will be directed by Safe House’s Daniel Espinosa, with Lost In Space writers Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama working on the script. Variety expects production to start later this year.