While Spider-Man is off mingling with the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony is taking advantage of the access they have to the supporting characters from the Spider-Man comic books, building projects around villains and allies who aren't likely to show up in the follow-ups to SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING.
The studio has VENOM coming out on October 5th, director Gina Prince-Bythewood is working with writers Lindsay Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet on a project called SILVER & BLACK (which will star the characters Silver Sable and Black Cat), and last year Sony announced that they will also be giving MORBIUS THE LIVING VAMPIRE his own movie.
Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, whose credits include DRACULA UNTOLD, THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, and Netflix's Lost in Space, are currently scripting the MORBIUS film, and the search is on for a director. Rumor has it that THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS's F. Gary Gray passed on the chance to direct the film (he's busy rebooting MEN IN BLACK), and THE EQUALIZER director Antoine Fuqua recently mentioned to JoBlo's own Paul Shirey that he had been approached about the project.
While we wait to hear who's going to take the helm of this one, ThatHashtagShow have gotten a look at the logline for the project… and if you know Morbius from the comic books, this logline is going to sound familiar to you, because it's just a description of the character:Â
Horror action story of a scientist who, in trying to find a cure for a rare blood disease, accidentally transformed himself into a living vampire who, though disgusted by his own bloodlust, chooses to prey upon criminals he deems unworthy of life.
Well, at least it confirms they're taking a "horror action" approach to the material.
It's not likely that a vampire, living or otherwise, ever would have turned up in a Spider-Man movie, so I'm all for Morbius getting his own film. He has carried his own title in the comics before (I collected and enjoyed the Morbius series that Marvel published in the early '90s), and I think he can carry his own movie as well.