Jared Leto is being lined up for ‘Spider-Man’ spin-off ‘Morbius’.
The 46-year-old singer-and-actor looks set to play the titular villain in the motion picture after he met several filmmakers who were keen to helm the project.
Sources have told Variety that Daniel Espinosa will direct the project, and he is said to have met Leto last month in Germany while the ‘Suicide Squad’ star – who played The Joker in the superhero movie – was touring with his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and Lucas Foster will produce the movie, and the script has been co-written by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama.
Morbius the Living Vampire first appeared in the comic book series ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ as an antagonist in 1971.
The character started off life as a scientist but his life was turned upside down when he attempted to cure himself of a blood disease with disastrous results, leaving him with vampire fangs and a thirst for blood.
Morbius landed his own series, ‘Morbius, the Living Vampire’, in 1992 until 1995.
The movie is yet to have a release date pencilled in, but Sony are said to be hoping the film fits in well with their other projects, ‘Venom’, which is to drop in October, and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, which is slated for next year.
‘Venom’ is focused around Eddie Brock/ Venom – who will be played by Tom Hardy – the first character to become the alien symbiote in the Marvel comic books after Spider-Man discards the black suit he discovers is actually a living being.
‘Venom’ marks the first time an enemy of Spidey will be getting their own standalone movie, but the character did appear in Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man 3’, when he was played by Topher Grace.
Jared Leto ‘to lead Morbius movie’
