Jared Leto's Marvel Role Won't Affect His Joker Role

Jared Leto may be joining the Marvel family with the announcement that the Suicide Squad star will star as Morbius, the Living Vampire in the Spider-Man villain's solo film but it won't interfere with his role as the Joker.

News broke earlier today that the Academy Award-winning actor will play Michael Morbius, the tragic antihero that is the subject of one of the Sony Marvel Universe's upcoming Spider-Man spinoff movies and, according to a report from Variety, this new role will not impact his standalone Joker film Warner Bros. announced earlier this month. The report indicates that, in addition to promoting his new album "America" with Thirty Seconds to Mars, the actor has also been lining up acting roles as well and that his solo Joker film will not conflict with the Morbius role.

In Marvel Comics, Michael Morbius was a scientist searching for a cure to his own rare blood disease when one of his experiments gave him the characteristics most commonly associated with mythical vampires, such as the thirst for blood and an aversion to sunlight. Created by Roy Thomas and designed by Gil Kane, Morbius first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 back in 1971 and was originally one of Spider-Man's enemies. He later was redeemed and became more of an anti-hero complete with his own series.

Leto's performance as The Joker in Suicide Squad was met with mixed reactions and was accompanied with reports of the unusual lengths he went to to prepare for the role. According to reports, Leto would send rats, a dead hog, condoms and more to his co-stars on that film, and the Morbius news sparked some fan reaction as to what lengths Leto would go to in order to prepare for his Living Vampire role. Others are curious to see how Leto does as Morbius, considering that the character is markedly different than the deranged villain he played in Suicide Squad.

At this time, there are few details about the Morbius film. It's being developed as part of Sony's Marvel Universe which will kick off with Tom Hardy's Venom this October. The films in the Sony Marvel Universe will feature characters in the extended Spider-Man mythology and are said to skew more towards adult audiences than the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other films in development for the Sony Marvel Universe include Silver and Black -- the Silver Sable/Black Cat feature that is reportedly delayed -- and Nightwatch.

What do you think about Jared Leto playing both The Joker and Morbius? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.