Morbius finally comes to the big screen as Sony releases the final trailer

Sony Pictures released one last trailer to get the public excited for morbiusthe oft-delayed spin-off film about one of Spider-Man’s lesser-known enemies, directed by Daniel Espinosa.

As we reported back in January 2020, when the first trailer came out, Sony’s filming of the character was intended to be part of a newly shared universe of movies along the lines of the Marvel model. The studio hoped to split the Sony Marvel Universe (SMU) from its successful Spider Man franchisee.

The movie of 2018 venom started the series with Tom Hardy in the title role. Critics disapproved of it, but venom went on to gross over $850 million worldwide. (The sequel, Venom 2: Let There Be Carnagefinally came out last year after it also delayed a pandemic, bringing in $500 million worldwide despite mixed reviews.) So Sony decided to go ahead with the planned morbius movie, tapping Daniel Espinosa (Life) to direct – a solid choice, given that Espinosa clearly knows how to merge science fiction and horror. Jared Leto was cast as Morbius.

According to the official synopsis:

One of the most compelling and contradictory characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters comes to the big screen when Oscar® winner Jared Leto morphs into the enigmatic anti-hero Michael Morbius. dr. Morbius is dangerously ill with a rare blood disease and determined to save others who suffer the same fate. He takes a desperate gamble. While it may seem like a radical success at first, a darkness is unleashed within him. Will good prevail over evil – or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?

Matt Smith plays Loxias Crown, a friend of Morbius who suffers from the same rare blood disease, and Michael Keaton reprises his role as the supervillain Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: No Way Home† Adria Arjona plays Morbius’s fiancée, Martine Bancroft, and Tyrese Gibson plays FBI agent Simon Stroud, who hunts the doctor-turned-murderous monster. His partner, Alberto Rodriguez, is played by Al Madrigal, while Jared Harris plays Morbius’ youth mentor.

Most marketing materials to date have focused on Morbius’ childhood pain (both physical and bullied) and his transformation into a superhuman being with a thirst for blood. There isn’t much new footage in this latest trailer, but it focuses more on the character’s struggles to maintain his altruism and goodness, while being tempted to give in to his dark impulses by both Vulture and the enraged. Loxias Crown. Crown wants everyone to suffer the same kind of pain that he (and Morbius) have suffered all their lives. There’s also a rare bit of levity towards the end, when Rodriguez brings a bottle of holy water with them when they sit down to interview an arrested Morbius.

These were my thoughts on January 1, after seeing the first trailer:

This actually looks like a great role for Leto, whose Joker rendition in 2016’s suicide squad has been made largely irrelevant (fairly or unfairly) in the wake of Joaquin Phoenix’s masterful, Oscar-nominated performance in joker† Morbius is a different kind of complicated character – a man who struggles to reconcile his conscience with the desire for a cure that turns him into a monster – that might be a better fit for Leto’s sombre style.

Since then, of course, there has been a global pandemic and a staggering amount of disease and death. The hatching of morbius was postponed again and again. This has led some to speculate that Sony may not have had much faith in the film’s box office potential, but if it did, why not release it on a streaming platform and cut the losses? Instead, for the next two years, the studio stubbornly continued to release occasional teasers, trailers, and clips as the dates kept shifting to remind everyone that the movie still existed. And now we can finally judge for ourselves when the film hits theaters on April 1. Let’s hope the joke isn’t on us.

morbius opens in theaters from April 1, 2022. We strongly recommend that you only go to the cinema if you are fully vaccinated (and preferably boosted).

List of picture by YouTube/Sony Pictures