Everyone’s favorite alternative rock actor is back to take on another comic book villain but this time from Marvel. Jared Leto is set to star in Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off that focuses on the vampiric villain known as Morbius according to Variety. Leto is known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars along with his work as an actor in many films ranging from great to horrible (you know what I’m talking about). Sony has another film slated to be released later this year following a popular Spider-Man antagonist known as Venom and it looks like they’re seriously going a darker route with this next plan.
Morbius follows a scientist who attempts to cure himself of a blood disease that ends up going horribly wrong (where have we seen that before?) which in turn afflicts him with vampiric traits such as fangs and a thirst for blood. The film is set to be directed by Daniel Espinosa known for his work in Safe House and is written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless known for their efforts in the Netflix series Lost in Space.
Whether you’re a fan of Leto or not, it’s a little hard to be excited for this just yet especially since Venom hasn’t been released and it doesn’t say anything about what Sony can do about this new Marvel Universe. Leto has no doubt provided great roles in the past which earned him acclaim through films such as Requiem for a Dream and Dallas Buyers Club, the latter of which earned him an Oscar. Leto is also no stranger to comic book films with his superb portrayal as the Joker in the Oscar winning Suicide Squad….. Okay, I couldn’t type that with a straight face but to be fair, he wasn’t bad in that role.
Leto might honestly deliver as he is a great actor (Suicide Squad jokes aside) but the director and writers behind the project on the other hand don’t really have a great track record. Most of Espinosa’s films were mixed to negative in regards to critical reception and Sazama and Sharpless wrote God of Egypt for god’s sake. Granted, Lost in Space was alright but Leto looks like the film’s strongest asset here. It’s hard to really say anything for now but I guess the Venom film would allow for some further discussion.
Source: Variety
