Academy Award winner Jared Leto has become well-known for his transformational performances, with the actor often appearing unrecognizable in the name of cinema. With this in mind, the actor has now explained to Deadline why he believes that the Sony/Marvel character, Morbius, is the perfect part for him to play.

“Morbius gave me the opportunity to have this character that really makes three pretty significant transformations – He starts off very, very sick searching for a cure disease… then he finds a cure and it becomes powerful and stronger than he’s ever been before. Then there is another transformation that happens. It was it was kind of the perfect role for me. Honestly, I enjoyed it quite a bit.”

Morbius will introduce one of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters as Dallas Buyers Club and House of Gucci star Jared Leto is transformed into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his exact fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease, transforming the good doctor into a conflicted monster.

Leto has developed a penchant for disguising himself under the guise of his characters, and Morbius will provide him with the opportunity to do this multiple times. The actor will begin the story looking emaciated as Dr. Michael Morbius strives to cure his illness, before being changed into a version of Morbius more akin to how Leto looks in real life. But it doesn’t stop there, with Leto moving across the transformation spectrum and mutating from human to monster, with Morbius’ development into The Living Vampire going through several stages before becoming the fanged ghoul familiar to Marvel Comics fans.

This is not the first time that Jared Leto has explained what drew him to the role, with the actor highlighting his intrigue towards the internal struggle of Michael Morbius and describing the movie as "a Jekyll and Hyde story that's just big and fun, and sometimes is a little scary, which is, I think, different for that genre. And I'm excited about it. That should be a big, fun popcorn movie."

How Will Morbius Factor into the Venom-Verse & Marvel Cinematic Universe?

What began as shared cinematic universes has slowly evolved into shared multiverse franchises, and Morbius certainly looks like it came to play. So far, fans have spotted clues relating to everything from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise and the MCU to The Amazing Spider-Man and Tom Hardy’s Venom. Though we have been left to wonder how exactly this will all factor into proceedings.

Leto himself has even hinted at the sheer connectivity to come saying, “In the film version of Morbius that we’re bringing to you now, he’s also a part of a much larger universe. If you’ve seen the last Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, you know the Multiverse has officially opened, and there’s all kinds of opportunities for villains to meet up, thrive, and maybe even nurture their more sinister intents. That’s all I’m gonna say for right now.”

Morbius is scheduled to be released in the United States on April 1, 2022, having recently been delayed from a January 28, 2022 release date.