Morbius Star Jared Leto Teases Start Of Filming In London

Morbius star Jared Leto posted a short video clip to Instagram to tease the start of filming in London. The Spider-Man spinoff starring Leto as the titular "living vampire" recently received a 2020 release date from Sony. Doctor Who's Matt Smith will join Leto in an as-yet-undisclosed major role.

The character of Morbius, a brilliant scientist who turns himself into a vampire while trying to cure himself of a rare blood disorder, first appeared as a villain in The Amazing Spider-Man comic book way back in 1971, then later went on to become an anti-heroic vigilante in his own series of books and in pairings with various other Marvel characters including Blade, Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider. Sony will now add Morbius to their Spider-Man universe series of films following the success of Venom, which took in a stunning $855 million at the worldwide box office. Venom itself is set for a sequel that is expected to further introduce the villainous character of Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson.

Before another Venom movie can get rolling, Sony will first go ahead with the universe-expanding Morbius, starring former DCEU Joker Jared Leto in the lead role. Filming for Morbius is about to kick off in London, and Leto marked the occasion by posting a short and unusually restrained (for him at least) video on his Instagram.

In addition to Leto and Smith, Adria Arjona (Pacific Rim Uprising) is reportedly set to join Morbius as the title character's love interest Martine Bancroft. The film's main villain has not yet been confirmed, but a previously reported character breakdown indicated that Morbius' antagonist will be a new character named Loxias Crown, who is based on the mutant supervillain Crown aka Hunger. Daniel Espinosa (Life) takes on helming duties for the film, which was penned by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Gods of Egypt). Shooting on the movie is expected to continue through May.

With Morbius, Leto takes another shot at the comic book genre after his divisive portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad. Knowing Leto's bizarre, method-acting tendencies, he's sure to have something outrageous and unique up his sleeve when it comes to realizing the character. But that itself will be nothing new for Sony's Spider-Man villain franchise after Tom Hardy put his own bizarre and audience-dividing spin on Eddie Brock/Venom. Perhaps somewhere in the future, fans will be treated to the truly wild sight of Leto's Morbius and Hardy's Venom sharing the screen, and trying to out-weird one another.