'Spider-Man' Spinoff 'Morbius the Living Vampire' in Development at Sony
Another "Spider-Man" spinoff could arrive on the big screen. Sony announced it is planning a live-action version of "Morbius the Living Vampire."
Dr. Michael Morbius, the Marvel comic book character, debuted in the "Amazing Spider-Man" issue #101 published in the '70s. "Spider-Man" creator Stan Lee did not make the character but rather a comic writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane.
Morbius works as a scientist who has a rare blood condition. He botched an attempt to cure himself and developed vampirism. The character lives by feeding on blood and survives his enemies because of his strength. He also appeared in the "Spider-Man" animated series.
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Comic book fans say Morbius has plenty of similarities with Blade, which is also a Marvel property. The studio, however, has no plans of rebooting Blade's story, which Wesley Snipes played on the big screen.
Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama will handle the development of the script for the "Spider-Man" spinoff for Sony and Marvel. They are the team behind "Dracula Untold."
Casting Morbius has not yet taken place. No other details have been revealed about the project as it's supposedly under a secret development deal.
Meanwhile, the "Morbius the Living Vampire" spinoff is not the first planned spinoff in the "Spider-Man" lore. Tom Hardy is already in the midst of filming his solo movie in Atlanta as the villain Venom/Eddie Brock.
The "Venom" film will follow the "Lethal Protector" story from the "Spider-Man" comics, where Brock moves to San Francisco and starts life anew. Brock, however, can't escape his dark past especially after becoming embroiled with a gang of underground mercenaries.
Spider-Man even helps Venom fight the bad guys in the comics. It's unclear, however, if the superhero played by Tom Holland will make an appearance in the upcoming film.
Hardy stars alongside Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Reid Scott and Scott Haze in "Venom." Ruben Fleischer is directing this spinoff with a scheduled theater release date on October 2018.
