Jared Leto Lands Vampire Villain Role Morbius In Spider-man Spin-off

Jared Leto has landed another comic book movie role, this time doing battle with Spider-Man as vampire villain Morbius.

The actor is already no stranger to superhero villainy. He previously starred as the Joker in 'Suicide Squad', a film that was not well received by critics, getting a mere 27 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite that, Leto is set to produce and star in his own movie adaptation centred around the iconic clown villain in the near future, with Warner Bros. reportedly working on the 'Suicide Squad' spin-off.

Suicide Squad

But the 'Blade Runner 2049' and 'Dallas Buyers Club' actor is first set to star as 'Morbius: The Living Vampire' in the movie of the same title.

The bloodthirsty anti-hero was first created in 1971 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in the 101st edition of the Amazing Spider-Man comic books, and later was the subject of his own comic book series in the 1990s.

The Living Vampire tells the story of Dr Michael Morbius, a Nobel Prize-winning biochemical scientist who accidentally turned himself into a vampire in a failed experiment intended to cure his rare blood disorder using vampire bat DNA (he could maybe have seen that coming).

Instead, he gained superhuman abilities, including the ability to fly, mega strength and super speed - not so bad, right?

Well, unfortunately he also has an insatiable thirst for human blood and a crippling aversion to light - not the most matey of characteristics.

Morbius Villain

He was also a busy guy, doing battle with Spider-Man, the Human Torch and the Original X-men, among others.

And now Leto, who is also frontman of Californian rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, will star in the live-action film adaptation of the comics.

It was written by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama, the writers behind the popular Netflix series 'Lost in Space'. It was also widely reported late last year that Sony were working on the Morbius film.

PA

And while Leto has been loosely associated with plans for the movie for some time, he only took the job after meeting with director Daniel Espinosa on the German leg of his band's tour.

The production giants have been working hard to expand the Spider-Man film franchise, with 'Venom', perhaps the most badass of Spider-Man's mates, this time being played by Tom Hardy, due to be released in October.

'Spider-Man: Far From Home', the sequel to last year's 'Spider-Man: Homecoming', is also set for release next year.

Topics: TV and Film, Suicide Squad, Jared Leto, Spider-Man

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]