The first trailer for Morbius has arrived, and it’s already better than what most fans were expecting. Featuring Jared Leto in various stages of method acting, from the sallow and gaunt to the virile and muscular, it chronicles Dr. Michael Morbius as he does whatever it takes to cure himself of a fatal disease, including experimenting with electricity and vampire bats. The result of the experiments transforms him into Morbius, the Living Vampire, a character that first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man comics.
As the trailer jumps from one patented Leto freak out to another, fangs lengthen, eyes become bloodshot, and the man becomes the monster. Caught up in the hysteria is his mentor, his lover, his colleague, and is that Vulture? The new film by Daniel Espinosa appears to be connected to the MCU, but as to whether or not it will mimic Sony’s other hit Venom remains to be seen. Here are 10 things you need to know about Morbius before you see him on July 31st, 2020!
HE’S A SUPERVILLAIN
Something important to remember when considering a new Morbius movie is that the titular character is in fact a supervillain. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 and fought the famous web-slinger, and would continue to do so over the next several years.
With films like Venom depicting another famous Spider-Man supervillain as more of an anti-hero, there’s reason to believe that Morbius will also be a sympathetic character that audiences can relate to on some level, even if his story involves brutal violence.
HIS COMIC IS VIOLENT
Like Blade, another Marvel comic featuring the lives of vampires, Morbius is a comic steeped in blood. Morbius may be a sympathetic antagonist, but as he becomes more deeply entrenched in his status as a “living vampire,” he’s driven more and more by his insatiable need for blood.
From the first trailer, the film looks like it will cater a fair deal to the “horror-action genre,” a term which has been used lately to describe its focus. To contend with his thirst, Morbius often chose to prey on criminals rather than innocent victims, becoming a purveyor of vigilante justice in the process.
HE HAS A RARE BLOOD DISORDER
Before he became Morbius, the “Living Vampire”, he was Dr. Michael Morbius in The Amazing Spider-Man comics, a Greek biochemist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who had a rare blood disorder that was slowly causing his body and mind to waste away.
In an attempt to cure himself, he combines electroshock therapy with vampire bats, the result of which he believes is killing him. What he doesn’t realize is that only the weakest parts of himself are dying, replaced with super strength, super speed, and the ability to regenerate from any wound with lightning speed.
HE’S A “LIVING VAMPIRE”
When Dr. Michael Morbius cures himself of his rare blood disorder, he doesn’t become a “Vampire” in the traditional sense. He is turned into a “pseudo-vampire,” in that he must drink human blood to survive, as well as avoid sunlight. He also developed certain physical deformities, such as his teeth becoming jagged, and his nose flattening to resemble a bat’s.
As a living vampire, he isn’t actually “undead.” Blood still runs through his veins, and he is technically mortal in the sense that he can die if overpowered by an entity stronger than himself. However, his super speed, strength, and healing powers make defeat unlikely.
HE DOESN’T HAVE MAGIC POWERS
Morbius may be a “pseudo-vampire,” but he isn’t a vampire in the mystical sense of the term. The vampires of global folklore, which are spurned by holy water and the sign of the cross, are only inspirations for the legendary Morbius, who isn’t affected by religious iconography.
Unlike Dracula, who has appeared as his own Marvel villain before, Morbius can’t shapeshift into a wolf, or transform into a swarm of bats. He can’t become a cloud of mist, control the dead, or influence animals. He can, however, hypnotize the weaker-minded and force them to do his bidding.
HE COULD ENCOUNTER TOM HOLLAND’S SPIDER-MAN
Because Morbius is a Spider-Man character, there’s a chance that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could appear in the new film. For a while this seemed unlikely, because Marvel had already licensed the rights to Spider-Man to Sony for twenty years, an agreement set up prior to Disney purchasing Marvel.
However, recently Sony agreed to share the rights with Marvel Studios, partially thanks to the success of Tom Holland, allowing Spider-Man to remain in the MCU. Holland is already rumored to appear in the next Venom film by Sony, so he may very well make a cameo in Morbius.
HE HAS A LOVE INTEREST
From the first trailer, we see brief flashes of a young woman, who is revealed to be Martine Bancroft, Morbius’ fiancée, according to IMDb. She was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #102 back in 1973, and she has gone through some rapid development since her first appearance.
Martine will be played by Adria Arjona (True Detective) and will fight alongside her lover to find a cure for his rare blood disease even as he becomes a living vampire. In the comics, Morbius bites her, making her a living vampire herself, and she is killed and resurrected many times.
HIS BEST FRIEND IS EMIL NIKOS
Michael Morbius’s best friend was his lab assistant, Emil Nikos. Nikos helped him search for a cure for his blood disease, but unfortunately when Morbius became a living vampire, he was his first victim. This turned Nikos into a vampire as well, with similar abilities to Morbius.
Emil Nikos is reportedly in the film, but he isn’t listed in the cast yet. Jared Harris is listed as “Morbius’s mentor,” and it’s very possible the Nikos character has been altered slightly and turned into a figure Harris more closely resembles, while the Matthew Smith character has been turned into Morbius’s best friend.
ONE OF HIS MAIN NEMESIS IS LOXIAS CROWN
In the role of Loxias Crown, Morbius’s best friend is Matthew Smith. Crown has the same rare blood disorder as Morbius, and works to help him find a cure. In the comics, Loxias Crown appears in Spider-Man #76 published in 1997, and assumes the alias of “Hunger,” squaring off against both Morbius and Blade.
It’s been rumored that Smith won’t play Crown exactly as he was depicted in the comics, and it sounds like the character of Emil Nikos and Crown were combined. Hunger becomes an incredibly powerful vampire that Morbius has to fight, so expect to see Smith as the Big Bad of this film in some supernatural form.
HE COULD CONNECT TO THE REST OF THE MCU
In one of the most shocking moments from the new Morbius trailer, a familiar face from the MCU makes a sudden appearance: Vulture! Spider-Man fans will remember Michael Keaton as the charismatic villain from Spider-Man: Homecoming, and his appearance marks the first solid connection the film has to the rest of the MCU.
The last time we saw Vulture, aka Adrian Toomes, he was behind bars. Yet here he is, talking with Michael Morbius about some shared history. What could Morbius want from a supervillain, and does it pertain to creating the Sinister Six, a group of supervillains once created by Doctor Octopus? The trailer doesn’t provide answers, but we’re happy to see Keaton chew the scenery again.
