Producers Confirm ‘Morbius’ Is Next Spider-Man Spin-Off Headed Into Production

Thanks to Venom taking in huge numbers at the box office this past weekend, the future looks bright for Sony Pictures’ planned series of Spider-Man spinoffs. Producers of the film Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach confirmed that the next spinoff moving forward will be Morbius, which they hope to begin filming in February.

The duo confirmed their plans to Collider, noting that Morbius was definitely the next film and hinting that they hoped to have the film start shooting in early 2019. They also detailed their excitement about Jared Leto being attached to star in the film.

“This is the great thing for us now, that an actor like [Leto], and an actor like [Venom star] Tom [Hardy] wanted to have their own character. But the character they love,” Arad shared. “Both of them, very hard to get them to do a movie. You actually cannot get them. We went in, we sat with them, and everybody told us, ‘Oh, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba.’ Nothing. That’s what he wanted to do.”

He added, “We went to this place with them, and he just…good actors want to be different than what they are.”

Heading into the release of Venom, the future seemed uncertain for this “Spider-Verse” of connected Spider-Man spinoffs, as critical reviews of the film were on par with films like Justice League and Suicide Squad. The often-cited “superhero fatigue” and negative reviews made some audiences think this Spider-Verse was doomed before it could be launched, though its estimated $80 million opening weekend proved that fans were interested in seeing this corner of the superhero universe.

One of the factors that made fans apprehensive about Venom was that, despite the violent nature of the character, the film earned a PG-13 rating. With Morbius being a vampire, audiences are curious if this would result in a darker adventure, with the producers detailing that it all depends on the ultimate story.

“I don’t think there’s a rule written somewhere in stone that all of them have to be one thing,” Tolmach shared. “I think we’ve all talked about, ‘Well, if one of these presents itself in a way…’ Look, we have all seen, as you’ve said, the R-rated versions of these movies now working. So, that’s out there. You can succeed to a staggering degree.”

Arad added, “We couldn’t have done Suicide Squad PG-13. Just language, or Deadpool, just language. On language alone, which is obscene. There’s no parent out there, that doesn’t look at their kid, ‘Shut the f-ck up.’ So, it’s not like it’s going to be a shocking situation for them, but if we can make it more accessible because people love the Marvel characters.”

Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama have written the most recent draft for the Morbius film, so we’ll have to see how their plans for the character came together.

Stay tuned for details on Morbius.

Are you glad that this is the next Spider-Man spinoff? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Collider]