Matt Smith to join Jared Leto in Spider-Man spinoff Morbius

As Sony's own little Marvel Universe has gotten off to a rousing start with VENOM (at least on the box-office side of things), the studio must feel slightly more assured as they move ahead on their next Spider-Man spinoff, a film based on Morbius, the Living Vampire. We already know that Jared Leto (BLADE RUNNER 2049) is slated to play the title role and now Variety has reported that Matt Smith (Doctor Who) is in final talks to join up as well.

Set to be directed by Daniel Espinosa (LIFE), MORBIUS will follow Dr. Michael Morbius, "a scientist who suffered from a rare blood disease and attempted to cure himself to disastrous results. Instead of being cured, he became afflicted with a condition that was a form of vampirism — the thirst for blood, along with fangs and super strength." Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (Lost in Space) will tackle the script and production is expected to begin fairly soon. As for who Matt Smith will be playing in MORBIUS, Variety doesn't have many details, only to say that it will be a "major role." My guess would be the main villain, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

Matt Smith's MORBIUS role isn't the only one in the actor's future which is shrouded in mystery. Smith recently wrapped production on J.J. Abrams' STAR WARS: EPISODE IX and is said to be playing a "key role" in that film. So mysterious. We'll next see Smith in MAPPLETHORPE, a biopic centered on Robert Mapplethorpe, a notoriously provocative American photographer who prompted controversy due to his images of the naked male body throughout the '70s and '80s. The film is set to hit theaters on March 1, 2019.