Spider-Man Spinoff 'Morbius' Plot Details Revealed

Sony Pictures is hard at work building its own Marvel shared movie universe using Spider-Man [...]

Sony Pictures is hard at work building its own Marvel shared movie universe using Spider-Man characters the studio controls, beginning with Tom Hardy's Venom in October. Other films include one featuring Silver Sable and Black Cat and one based on Nightwatch, but we may have just gotten the first details on the darkest of these films, which focuses on Morbius, the living vampire.

That Hashtag Show reportedly reached out to contacts at Sony to find out if there's been any update on the Morbius movie. What they turned up was the first general details on what the Morbius movie may look like. Here's what they reported:

"Horror action story of a scientist who, in trying to find a cure for a rare blood disease, accidentally transformed himself into a living vampire who, though disgusted by his own bloodlust, chooses to prey upon criminals he deems unworthy of life."

The report also gives a basic description of who Sony is looking to cast as Morbius. Sony is reportedly going for a male of unspecified race in the age range of 30-37.

The Morbius movie is currently said to be in pre-production with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless writing the script. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing. The Fate of the Furious director F. Gary Gray was reportedly offered the directing job but turned it down.

Morbius was created by Roy Thomas and designed by Gil Kane. The character first appeared in the Marvel Comics universe in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 in 1971. He was originally one of Spider-Man's enemies, but over time was redeemed and become more of an anti-hero, starring in his own series.

The film description above stays close to Morbius's comic book origin. In the comics, he was a biologist attempting to find a cure for his own blood disease. He experimented on himself and ended up inflicted with what was dubbed "pseudo-vampirism" (hence the "living vampire" description). The affliction cursed Morbius with many of the traits of a vampire - the bloodlust and aversion to light - as well as some of their gifts, such as flight and super strength.

The first installment of the Sony Marvel Universe, Venom, opens in theaters on October 5th.

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