Jon Watts shared shortly after Spider-Man: Homecoming’s theatrical release that he’d like to introduce Morbius, the Living Vampire, in the sequel. There’s been no further news or comment about that, but Sony Pictures apparently has a standalone Morbius movie in development.
Several months ago, we heard that the studio brought in screenwriting duo Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless to work on the script. More recently, That Hashtag Show published the Morbius movie’s logline:
Horror action story of a scientist who, in trying to find a cure for a rare blood disease, accidentally transforms himself into a living vampire who, though disgusted by his own bloodlust, chooses to prey upon criminals he deems unworthy of life.
This seems to indicate that Sony plans to tell Morbius’ origin story in a superhero/horror movie similar to Ruben Fleischer's Venom, which arrives in theaters in October 2018. Both movies are going for R-ratings.
The Spider-Man spin-off is still without a director, although we’ve heard through the grapevine that the studio had approached F. Gary Gray (Fate of the Furious) to direct. After careful consideration, Gray eventually declined, but the studio is pressing on with the project.
THS added that Sony’s looking for a 30 to 37-year-old actor of unspecified race to play Morbius, although there's been no word on when filming might begin. But it's likely that the the new Spider-Verse project’s survival and/or progress depends on how the Venom movie is received.
