Michael Morbius makes up one of many in Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery, but who exactly is this Nobel-prize winning scientist turned quasi-vampire? Sony (by way of Marvel)’s villain follows in the footsteps of their Venom outing (having dropped the Let There Be Carnage sequel in theaters in October) with November's release of Morbius’ second trailer. Is he an evil blood-sucker, or a tormented, pale hunk? Here, we unpack the history of the character so far in the lead up to his feature film debut.
Who Will Be Playing The Living Vampire?
Androgynous love-him-or-hate-him superstar Jared Leto, off the back of his performance in the major flop House Of Gucci, embodies the role of Morbius, a gothic comic book take on the classic vampire tale. Hardly the first time Leto has dipped his toe into the superhero genre, the actor had previously taken on the role of The Joker in David Ayer's Suicide Squad in 2016 - an equally poorly received film - and once more in 'The Snyder Cut' iteration of Justice League in 2021.
Leto lays out his exact side effects, or “powers” in this case, within the trailer. He mentions super strength, we see his ability to fly, and he develops an unfortunate newfound taste for human blood… suitably vampiric? Naturally. Even Morbius’ appearance, with his pointed ears and upturned nose, resembles that of a bat.
Where Does Morbius Fit in With Past Vampires?
As far as cliché vampires go, everything follows Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula, and based on the latest Morbius trailer, that relation seems to fit. In the three-minute clip, Jared Leto’s Morbius, a scientist with a crippling degenerative illness, seeks a cure by way of vampire bat. While the science in question seems to work out, and the man appears to be completely healthy, a deadly set of repercussions follow.
Reliably iconic, vampires on screen have seen a sudden boom of late, with the obvious success of the Twilight series throughout the '00s, a movie outing for Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep (which saw vampires as kidnappers and murderers in a continuation of The Shining), and BBC's recent Dracula in 2020, which also saw an updated iteration of The Count. These creatures of the night have remained a coherent staple in cinema and literature, and with an updated Nosferatu from Robert Eggers on the way as well, they look set to stay.
The Origins of Morbius
Morbius "The Living Vampire” made very his first appearance in 1971's The Amazing Spider-Man, issue #101, by Roy Thomas, with art by Gil Kane. A brilliant scientist, eager to cure himself of a terminal illness, the comic-book Michael Morbius would gain his powers from a mix of vampire bat DNA and electroshock therapy, resulting in his modern-day vampire. With a lust for human blood, Morbius would kill his research partner, immediately regretting the monster that he had become but, alas, still driven by a vampiric hunger.
While Morbius was an updated version of the classic horror trope, his was a current-day iteration that drew on obvious, classic themes – selfishness, power, and experiments gone wrong, resulting in nothing more than a monster. He epitomized the constant struggle of human experience, as such. The villain quickly went on to become a fan-favourite among readers for his gothic looks and clear influences. In the seminal Spider-Man: The Animated Series, with its PG-based audience, the obtuse (and ambiguously foreign) Michael Morbius craved a victim's “plasma” for his strength instead of traditional blood, harvesting it through suckers on the palms of his hands. In an interview with Universal Monsters Universe, original creator, Roy Thomas, said:
I was a fan of the various Dracula series’… both Universal’s (esp. [Bela] Lugosi), and Christopher Lee starting in the late ’50s. But I liked the novel better than either. As I’ve mentioned before, the biggest influence on Morbius was a circa-1957 b&w film called “The Vampire,” in which a man had to kill people and drink their blood to stay alive, so that he wasn’t a true vampire at all.
vampire hunter Blade (also set for an upcoming film with Marvel), even becoming more anti-villain than straight-up antagonist. Morbius would feature regularly in his own title under the Adventure Into Fear series and later with the pulpy Vampire Tales, making regular appearances across the comic book landscape, most recently with his own self-titled run created by Vita Ayala in 2019.
Gaining even more popularity over the years that followed, Morbius would go on to tangle regularly with theMorbius, 2022
For Sony to continue their success following their Venom series, and with the recent release of Spider-Man: No Way Home (and its menagerie of classic and returning villains) this addition of Morbius makes perfect sense. Going one step further and even referencing Tom Hardy's Venom directly in this trailer as well, there's already enough winks and nods to their own property with a suggestion of a larger multiverse at play. Complimented alongside Universal Studio's eagerness to resurrect their own classic Universal monsters, by way of The Mummy and The Invisible Man, and Morbius slots right in for what current audiences thirst for.
Morbius is set for release in cinemas on 28th of January, 2022.