The Low Down On Morbius

ABOUT MORBIUS
In ‘Morbius’, Oscar winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Dr. Michael Morbius. Based on the classic Marvel character who first appeared in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man comics’, Dr Morbius becomes a vampire after a desperate gamble to cure himself of a rare blood disease, gaining superhuman abilities but none of the superstitious weaknesses associated with vampires. Morbius arrives in Irish cinemas on March 31st

WATCH THE TRAILER

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Morbius first appeared as an enemy of Spider-Man in issue #101 of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ comic in October 1971.

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Morbius has appeared in 8 different video games so far. The character has popped up in Spider-Man games, Avengers games and even a Lego video game.

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Matt Smith, who plays villain Milo, is the 3rd ‘Doctor Who’ actor to play a Marvel villain. Previously 9th Doctor, Christopher Eccleston played ‘Thor’ villain Malekith & 10th Doctor David Tennant played ‘The Purple Man’ in ‘Jessica Jones’.

New Writer… New character
Morbius’ initial appearance in 1971 was in the very first issue of Marvel’s Spider-Man’ series not written by character co-creator and editor-in-chief Stan Lee.

DRACULA
Morbius creator Roy Thomas originally tried to bring Dracula (created by Irishman Bram Stoker) into the Spider-Man comics. Thomas revealed “Stan Lee said no; he wanted a new, more super-villainous creation for Spidey to fight. So Gil and I came up with Morbius, the Living Vampire, a science-fictional vampire.”

CENSORED
Up until 1971, vampires, ghouls & werewolves were banned from comics due to a senate claim that they corrupted innocent minds. The code was revised in February 1971 allowing monsters when handled in a classic tradition, similar to Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high calibre literary works. 8 months later Morbius made his debut!

A HANDSOME VAMPIRE 
Morbius co-creator Gil Kane took inspiration for Morbius’ image from iconic actor Jack Palance for his sharp-cheek boned aesthetic.

DELETED SCENE
This movie isn’t the first time we’ve seen Morbius’ in a live-action film. The character made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film ‘Blade’, with the film’s director Stephen Norrigton taking on the role of Morbius. Sadly the scene ended up on the cutting room floor but was included as a bonus feature on the DVD release.

EAT THE POLICEMAN
Talking about playing Milo, Morbius’ friend turned villain, ‘Doctor Who’ actor Matt Smith said “Playing the bad guy is a dream come true – I’m interested in the bad guys where, at the end of the film, you go, ‘I kind of like him.’ Don’t judge him too harshly. ‘Fair enough, mate. You’ve had a pretty grim life up to now. You enjoy eating the policeman.’”


MORBIUS is at Irish cinemas from March 31st