Jared Leto has landed another superhero role.
Having already portrayed the Joker (to some criticism) in Suicide Squad, the actor has signed on to play Morbius the Living Vampire, a former scientist named Dr. Michael Morbius who attempts to cure an affliction but develops a form of vampirism.
Daniel Espinosa, best known for directing Life, will helm the upcoming movie, with a script from the duo behind Netflix’s Lost in Space reboot, Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama.
The two writers have a history of making vampire movies: they previously wrote the vampire movie Dracula Untold, which featured Luke Evans as the titular character.
Morbius marks yet another addition to Sony’s Marvel Universe, a set of movies that will be released in conjunction with Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.
Based on characters from Spider-Man’s comics, the series begins with Tom Hardy’s Venom and will also include Silver & Black, which centres on the superheroes Black Cat and Silver Sable. Morbius first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101, beginning as an antagonist but becoming a flawed hero over time.
Meanwhile, Leto recently appeared in the Netflix movie Outsider, a feature that received a critical mauling upon release earlier this year. The actor is also rumoured to be playing the Joker once again in Suicide Squad 2, an Untitled Joker-Harley Quinn Project, andGotham City Sirens – although none of these movies have been confirmed as coming out.
