Former ‘Doctor Who’ Matt Smith is the third actor cast for Sony’s ‘Morbius’, based on the Marvel Comics pseudo-vampire. Jared Leto stars in the title role, while Adria Arjona is reportedly playing the female lead Martine Bancroft. Smith’s role, however, is currently a mystery. But it is rumored that the script includes two additional characters: Emil Nikos, Michael Morbius’ best friend and fellow scientist who attempts to help him cure his rare blood disease, which results in him turning into a vampire-like creature; and the villain Loxias Crown, who is believed to be the Marvel character The Hunger. It would be easy to see Smith in either role.
‘Morbius’ will be Sony’s second live-action film taken from their catalog of Spider-Man characters, but that take place in their own universe, outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the current Spidey flicks. Daniel Espinosa (‘Life’) is directing with a script by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama, who created Netflix’s ‘Lost in Space’ series.
Last fall, ‘Venom’ was a massive box office hit, earning $855 million worldwide, despite negative pre-release buzz. That bodes well for ‘Morbius” chances. Though it isn’t connected, the animated ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ was also a massive hit and was the best-reviewed animated film of 2018 and has already won the Golden Globes, Producers Guild, and Critics’ Choice Awards, and is the frontrunner to take home the Oscar next month. There was some question as to whether Sony could pull off hit movies based on Spider-characters without using Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, but it looks like the answer is a resounding YES!
Smith is best known for playing the 11th Doctor on ‘Doctor Who’, but has since starred in the films ‘Terminator: Genisys’, ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’, ‘Mapplethorpe’, and ‘Patient Zero’, as well as the Netflix series ‘The Crown’. He also has an undisclosed role in this winter’s ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’.
‘Morbius’ does not yet have a release date. Check back for updates!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
