Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius makes his debut in the official trailer for Morbius, the upcoming instalment in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters from director Daniel Espinosa.

The Marvel antihero, also known as the Living Vampire, is “one of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters.” Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil – or will he succumb to his mysterious new urges?

And because we can sense you wondering, yes. Leto has previously teased that Morbius could appear alongside Blade in a future project, with Mahershala Ali cast in the role of vampire hunter for the MCU. Add to that the cheeky Venom name-drop (and that post-credits Let There Be Carnage scene), and we have a complicated ‘shared universes’ web forming. You can, of course, thank the Sony and Marvel studio mess for that.

As Morbius is heard explaining in the trailer, the character’s new abilities include “increased strength and speed, some form of ‘bat radar'”.  Yet this new-found power comes at a cost, a hunger to “hunt and consume blood” that he doesn’t quite understand, nor can he seem to control.

Leto is joined by Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson (in what is set to be a recurring role, the actor having signed a three-picture deal). Michael Keaton also reprises his role as Adrian Toomes / Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. 

 Morbius is set to release in cinemas January 28th, 2022.