Sony's Morbius Movie: Female Lead Is Reportedly Martine Bancroft

The female lead of Sony's Morbius movie will reportedly be a character named Martine Bancroft. Morbius's fiancee in the comics, Bancroft was a major secondary character in the Adventures Into Fear comic book series - and ultimately became a vampire herself.

Sony's Spider-villain franchise will launch in October with Venom, but the studio is wasting no time in pushing ahead with the next film. The latest reports suggest that Morbius, which stars Jared Leto, will begin production in November. That leaves Sony precious little time to adjust their plans based on popular and critical responses to Venom. It certainly means that viewers are currently seeing a drip-by-drip release of news about Morbius.

The latest news is apparently confirmation of Morbius's female lead. According to That Hashtag Show, this will be Martine Bancroft, Morbius's fiancée in the comics. Bancroft was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane back in 1971, making her debut in Amazing Spider-Man #102. A flashback sequence revealed Morbius's history, as he struggled to find a cure for a rare blood disorder. Morbius kept the truth about his condition secret from Martine, and didn't even reveal his experiments to her. Needless to say, Martine got something of a shock when Morbius turned himself into a vampire, and she stumbled upon his first victim. Martine's story would take many twists and turns over the years, ultimately becoming a vampire too.

It makes sense for Martine Bancroft to appear in Morbius as the chief female lead. She's central to his origin story, adding a human dimension to the tragedy of Michael Morbius. Martine became a central character in the 1970s Adventures Into Fear series; her continued love for Michael gave the scientist a reason to try to turn himself human again. Unfortunately, Morbius's fiancée wound up involved with the so-called "Cult of the New Order." Brainwashed into serving as one of the cult's priestesses, she betrayed Morbius to them. That experience finally led Martine to realize her love for Michael was cooling, and the two went their separate ways.

But Martine found that her life was still bound to Morbius; in a surprising twist, she was herself transformed into a vampire. Although she's been killed and resurrected a number of times, the character is currently deceased. Morbius himself stabbed her with a stake when he realized she was dangerously out-of-control.

If these reports are correct, it will be interesting to see how Sony adapt Martine Bancroft. It's possible their plot will be adapted from the little-known Adventures Into Fear run, and that Bancroft will indeed come under the influence of the Cult of the New Order.

Resource:https://screenrant.com/morbius-movie-martine-bancroft/