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First look at Jared Leto as Morbius, the Living Vampire

Jared Leto shares first look as Morbius, the Living Vampire (credit: Getty)

Looks like Jared Leto has well and truly moved on from the DC extended universe after posting the first image from his latest comic book movie Morbius.

The actor, who played the Joker in Suicide Squad, is now playing Morbius, the Living Vampire in this latest solo outing from Sony which has just completed its first week of production.

A clapperboard obscures Leto’s face but it shows him in character in his human form as Dr. Michael Morbius, Ph.D., an award-winning biochemist working on a cure for a rare blood condition he suffers.

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Using vampire bat DNA and electroshock therapy, Morbius experiments on himself but the failed attempt turns him into a pseudo-vampire with a thirst for human blood, an aversion to sunlight and superhuman abilities.

He was created in 1971, by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, as a villain for Spider-Man to face off against but he soon became more of tragic antihero who sometimes sided with the web-slinger, as well as embarked on his own solo heroic adventures or team-ups with the likes of Doctor Strange.

The Maximum Carnage comic book run sees Morbius form an uneasy alliance with Spider-Man and Venom in order to take down Carnage, so the arrival of this new movie might be a step towards bringing this story to the big screen.

Morbius, the Living Vampire from the comics (©Marvel)
Morbius, the Living Vampire from the comics (©Marvel)

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Venom introduced Carnage (Woody Harrelson) at the end of the movie and established Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) as an antihero rather than a villain, so this would be an obvious direction for Sony to go with in order to expand its Marvel universe and bring together its roster of big names.

Morbius is written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless with Daniel Espinosa serving as director.

Jared Harris recently joined the cast that also includes Matt Smith, though their roles are being kept under-wraps. Tyrese Gibson has also reportedly signed on to star in the movie.

Morbius is scheduled to be released on July 31, 2020