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The third and final trailer for Morbius will arrive this upcoming Monday, hinted at in the new promotional video released by Sony Pictures. Morbius will star Jared Leto, playing the Spider-Man antihero Michael Morbius, who embarks down a dangerous path to treat rare blood disease, resulting in the manifestation of his darkness.
Morbius initially looked to hit theaters on July 10, 2020, but the ever-present coronavirus pandemic altered the plan, taking the Spider-Man spin-off through a series of changes and readjustments for the last two years until January 28, 2022, became the firm date of release. Unfortunately, a new variant popped that ballon of optimism as well, forcing Sony to push the release date of the film back even further to April. The latest release window was a surprise to some, but the date alteration gives the film room to operate away from the success of Sony's other project in partnership with Marvel Studios, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The webslinging hero would have been distracting to the antihero, which may have impacted its box office numbers.
Despite the consistent changes, anticipation for Morbius is still relatively high, and the release of the film's final trailer will stoke things even further. Until then, however, Sony has released a new vignette titled The Lore of Morbius, which features Leto discussing the history of the antihero from his appearance as an antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man comic books to now. The footage provides a brief overview of the character's history in the Marvel universe and the connection Leto felt towards the character, which gravitated him to the role.
"From forbidden Marvel character to new Marvel Legend," reads the tweet posted by the film via Twitter, introducing the new look at the character. The vignette doesn't provide a complete history of Morbius, but it lays down some foundational clarity for audiences who may meet this character for the first time. In the footage, Leto touches on the inability of Marvel to include supernatural characters in their work, which was a ban issued by the Comics Code Authority. As a result, the usage of vampires, werewolves, and zombies was entirely off the table until the ban was lifted in 1971, making room for Morbius and an element of horror to appear in what Leto called "a more darker turn for Marvel."
"There's something about the character that stoked people's imaginations. It really can grab a hold of you. It certainly did with me," expressed Leto in the final stages of the vignette. Leto was announced to play the role of Michael Morbius in 2018 and has been vocal about the challenges that come with the new territory. Morbius is not as character-driven as many of the other roles Leto has played in the past, which Leto indicated as an obstacle because he's not used to playing roles that align with whom he truly is daily. Transforming into someone else is second nature to the Oscar-winning actor, but tapping into his personality is a uniquely different challenge. However, Leto has tackled the role with great excitement, fueling eagerness to see how he brings the antihero to life.
The vignette ends, revealing the release date for the film's final trailer, which will arrive on Monday, February 28th. Naturally, Sony hopes to see the film perform well once it officially releases, joining the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Uncharted regarding their box office success. However, unlike these films, Morbius has faced several delays, which may have tamed the fire of excitement a bit over the years. Nonetheless, the film is quickly approaching, and it will be interesting to see how the antihero performs on the big screen.
Morbius will hit theaters April 1, 2022.
Source: Morbius/Twitter