Morbius, the Living Vampire may be next Spider-Man spinoff – CNET

The next Spider-Man spinoff might be bloody terrifying. Er, plasma-y terrifying? Plasma-riffic?

Sony is developing a film based on the Spidey villain Morbius, the Living Vampire, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Morbius is Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Dr. Michael Morbius, who attempts to cure himself of a blood disease and ends up turning himself into a vampire. He was introduced in a 1971 issue of “The Amazing Spider-Man,” the first Spider-Man comic not written by Stan Lee. 

He’s well-known to fans of “Spider-Man: The Animated Series,” which ran on Fox Kids from 1994 to 1998, and featured a Morbius plotline. In that show, Morbius longs for “plasma,” never saying “blood” — presumably to stay somewhat kid-friendly, but also, the 1990s were weird.

Details about the film are scant, but THR reports that Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama have already written the script. Sharpless and Sazama were two of the screenwriters on the 2017 “Power Rangers” film and are showrunners for the 2018 Netflix version of “Lost in Space.”

Some fans appreciated the news, but others wondered whether Morbius is deserving of his own film.

And as fan after fan points out, the draw of Spider-Man villains is Spider-Man fighting said villains, not purely the bad guys gallivanting around solo. Sony’s movies don’t cross over with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so don’t expect to see Tom Holland swinging by. It’s expected that these spinoffsincluding “Venom” — will focus on the villains only.