Morbius Director Seemingly Confirms Venom Appearance in Long-Delayed Pic

August 10, 2021

As Marvel fans continue to wait for the long-delayed premiere of Sony Pictures’ Morbius, director Daniel Espinosa has opened up about the Jared Leto-led superhero movie.

In doing so, Espinosa has seemingly confirmed a major casting detail. When asked by MovieZine about what it’s like to direct such a high-profile project, Espinosa might have spoiled an appearance from Tom Hardy’s Venom, who is also set to reprise the role later this year in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Should Hardy indeed make an appearance in Morbius, this would mark Espinosa and Hardy’s latest collaboration after working together on 2015’s mysterious thriller Child 44.

“It usually feels strange before the day begins, when you look at the schedule and stand on the set yourself,” Espinosa said in a translated statement. “When you walk around there, the recording looks just like a Swedish production, but then when you look at the schedule and read names like Michael Keaton, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, then it feels cool and very exciting. But once you start working, it’s exactly the same thing. An actor wants a director and actors want to be directed.”

Morbius centers around Marvel anti-hero Morbius the Living Vampire, based on the character created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane in 1971. It stars Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Loxias Crown, Adria Arjona (Good Omens) as Martine Bancroft, Jared Harris (The Crown) as Morbius’ mentor, and Tyrese Gibson (Fast and the Furious) as an FBI Agent.

Pick up a copy of the Morbius comics here!

The film is directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) from a script by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama. It is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Lucas Foster. It is currently slated to arrive in theaters on January 28, 2022.

Originally Dr. Michael Morbius, the scientist character tried to cure his rare blood disease only to become afflicted with a form of vampirism that gave him superior strength, fangs, and a taste for the red stuff. The character fought Spider-Man several times, though eventually earned several of his own books where he had a more heroic arc. He has an ongoing feud with the character Blade the Vampire Hunter in the comics.

The character previously appeared on TV in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Ultimate Spider-Man Vs The Sinister Six, and was originally earmarked to make his film debut in Blade until his cameo was deleted and plans to make him the villain in Blade II scrapped.