'Morbius' Release Date Delayed Again To October 2021

Jared Leto's Morbius will rise...in seven months. Sony's living vampire has got his chompers in a new release date, following the studio's latest delay of the Marvel film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Morbius release date has been pushed back seven months, from March 18, 2021 to October 8 2021. This follows an initial delay for the comic book movie from July 31, 2020 to March 2021 amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The move comes as the state of movie theaters is still uncertain amid the spotty rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Major markets like New York and Los Angeles remain closed, and COVID-19 numbers remain at a horrifying high. Even so, other anticipated superhero releases are seemingly sticking to their spring releases, such as Disney's Marvel film Black Widow, as recently confirmed by Marvel chief Kevin Feige. However, it seems unlikely that we'll be back in theaters in big superhero-size numbers by this spring, which is likely why Sony is playing it safe and pushing the film to the fall.

But it's still uncertain whether Morbius will be the next big Venom-sized hit for Sony, even with universe-shattering MCU cameos from actors like Michael Keaton. Still, Sony seems determined to build out its Spider-Man cinematic universe, with films like Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and more.

In Morbius, Leto plays Michael Morbius, a "scientist suffering from a rare blood disease who attempts to cure himself and instead becomes afflicted with a form of vampirism." Morbius also stars Adria Arjona as Martine Bancroft, Morbius' fiance; Matt Smith as Loxias Crown, the villain of the film who also has the same blood disease as Morbius; Jared Harris as Morbius' mentor; and Tyrese Gibson as an FBI agent. Daniel Espinosa, director of Life, helms Morbius, with a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

In the Spider-Man comics, Dr. Morbius is stricken with a "debilitating blood disease and developed an experimental treatment involving vampire bats and electroshocks. Its side effects turned him into a pseudo-vampire who needed to consume blood in order to survive, and gained typical vampire characteristics such as an aversion to sunlight, and the powers of flight, enhanced strength, speed, and healing (a healing factor). His overall appearance changed as well: he gained fangs, his nose flattened to appear more bat-like, and his skin became extremely pale. Additionally, the victims of his bite would turn into living vampires themselves."

Morbius will now hit theaters on October 8, 2021, more than a year after its initial planned release date.