Fans of “The Living Vampire” will have to wait until April for the release of Sony’s next Spider-centric flick, Morbius.
Following several presumably COVID-19 related delays from the original release date of July 31, 2020, through the recent plan to debut at the end of this month, Sony Pictures will once again shift Morbius to the new wide
release date of Friday, April 1, 2022.
Originally created for Marvel Comics by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane and debuting as a villain in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 all the way back in The character went on to become a regular pain in the necks of both Spidey and Blade, the vampire hunter, before forging his own legacy as a gritty vigilante popping up in various titles throughout the ’70s and ’80s. The character finally got his own book in 1992-1993 before returning to his previous status as a sporadic villain and crossing over into guest spots in cartoons and videogames like Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Ultimate Spider-Man.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House; Life) Morbius stars Jared Leto as the titular character, with the likes of Michael Keaton, Matt Smith and Jared Harris filling out the cast. Morbius follows the story of a renowned biochemist who searches high and low for a cure to his own rare blood disorder, only to discover a dark world beyond science and a newfound vitality that will turn him into Sony Pictures next Spider-Man adjacent anti-hero.
With the recent success of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and the recent Sony/Marvel team-up Spider-Man: No Way Home it makes perfect sense to move Morbius out of the post-holiday graveyard and into a Spring release, though it remains to be seen if Leto can carry a tentpole studio release.
