Sony Pictures has brought online the final trailer for Morbius, which will be opening in regular theaters, IMAX, and other large premium formats on April 1, 2022. You can watch the trailer on YouTube and read on to learn more about the character.
Part of the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, which also includes the Spider-Man and Venom movies, Morbius is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language.
One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar-winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius.
Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering the same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble.
While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil – or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?
Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Life, Safe House), the film also stars Adria Arjona as the fiancée of the Nobel Prize-winning scientist. Jared Harris plays Morbius’s mentor.
Tyrese Gibson is Simon Stroud, an FBI agent hunting Morbius with partner Alberto Rodriguez (Al Madrigal), and Matt Smith plays the villain Loxias Crown, Morbius’s best friend who also suffers from the blood disease.
Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the script and the screen story. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach produce with Lucas Foster. The executive producers include Louise Rosner and Emma Ludbrook. The music is by Jon Ekstrand, who has worked with Espinosa on such films as Easy Money, Child 44, and Life.
“I’m attracted to roles where there’s an opportunity to transform – physical transformation, but also mental, emotional, any and all,” said Jared Leto. “I played Dr. Michael Morbius from his most frail to his most powerful to his most monstrous.
“There’s a lot of range in there, so that was really fun to tackle. Not only does the movie have action, stunts, and fighting, but the role itself was taxing. Whenever he is fighting the affliction, he is caught in a crossroads between different parts of the character. It’s like a withdrawal process, a full body experience.”
“Jared Leto was the only actor that could really play the part of Morbius. That wasn’t really a choice – it was predestination,” said director Daniel Espinosa. “Michael Morbius goes through several transformations in this movie,” added producer Lucas Foster.
“He starts off as someone who has little hope of survival. Over the course of his experiments and pushing the boundaries, making decisions that are on the edge of medical ethics, he does fix what he set out to fix – in fact, not only does he cure his disease, the treatment also brings him to the peak of physical health. But it also results in a transformation that he didn’t intend – he becomes a monster, having abilities and cravings that are impossible to control.”
“Morbius is searching for goodness – the cure for a disease. He’s going to find it, disregarding the cost on himself or on society,” said Espinosa. “And in his search for goodness, he transforms into something he detests. He has to accept the ugliness he has within him, and that there’s something beautiful about it. It will be his strength, what makes him unique.”
“It’s a fearsome creature,” says Foster. “It has all kinds of urges that are not human urges and Dr. Morbius has to deal with the consequences of the monster coming out.”
According to Espinosa, it’s the character’s inner humanity, his duality between virtuous man and brutal creature, that makes him so compelling. “Michael Morbius is one of the most altruistic characters of the Marvel Universe,” he says. “He’s one of the few that really believes in good. This good man has a horrible disease, and in his trials to save himself and the people that he cares for, he turns into a monster.”
“When Morbius discovers his inner beast, he becomes afraid of it – and because he’s afraid, he’s also afraid of his powers. He’s afraid that they will take over and change him, so he’s constantly resisting them,” says Espinosa. “To become the hero, he has to accept his fate: Morbius’s journey is to accept that he will still remain the person that he is, but he has to harness these powers.”
Espinosa continued: “Most of us are resistant to accept that we are the chosen one, and Morbius is the same. The most interesting characters in the Marvel universe have always been those that have had one foot on each side: Magneto, Rogue, Wolverine, in his own way, Venom. All of these characters are the ones that are fundamentally the most fascinating for us as moviegoers and comic book readers.”
Leto says that, ultimately, it will be Morbius’s true inner self that will determine his fate. “At the end of the day, he’s a very good person,” he says. “He’s using his talent, his skills, his education, his brains, in search of noble pursuits. He’s not without his faults – he’s breaking some rules, but he’s doing it to find the cure and help people like himself.”
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills to provide the latest news on streaming, movies, and TV shows. He previously created the websites ComingSoon, SuperHeroHype, and ShockTillYouDrop.