As the saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, sign on to a Marvel property. After the backlash Jared Leto received for his portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad, the actor jumped the DC ship, and he’s now playing Morbius, the living vampire from the Marvel Universe.
It isn’t technically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there some strange links between them that are yet to be cleared up, which is one of the reasons to be excited about the movie. However, given the strange premise, as it’s about a doctor who inadvertently becomes a vampire after trying to cure himself of his rare blood disease, it’s a hard sell. Regardless, these are movies that will get any cinephile in the mood to see the upcoming dark flick.
10 Venom (2018) - Available On Spectrum TV
Sony has confirmed that both the Venom series and Morbius are set in the same universe, which doesn’t exactly come as a surprise considering that they are both villains of Spider-Man and everything is always tied to a bigger universe these days.
A crossover between the two antagonists seems inevitable, whether it’s going up against each other or teaming up to go against a larger force. And as Venom is an ugly beast that literally bites heads off people, and Morbius is a vampire with a rare blood disease, a team-up would be gruesomely exciting.
9 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) - Available On FX
Given that Morbius is originally Spider-Man’s villain in the comic-books, it’s worth watching the first movie of the reboot, if only to see who Morbius could potentially be facing off against in the future.
Not only that but Michael Keaton, who played Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming, will also feature in the vampire movie. And though it hasn’t been announced what Keaton’s role will be, it’s heavily rumored that it’s the same role he played in Homecoming, especially considering that his character name hasn’t even been revealed yet.
8 Suicide Squad (2016) - Available On HBO Max
The DCEU's Suicide Squad might have been a critical miss, but the aesthetics of the film are so appealing. The movie has colorful cinematography, a stacked soundtrack, and the first live-action portrayal of Harley Quinn. But the most talked-about part of the movie is the Joker, who is unlike any Joker that had come before.
Leto plays the character as a flashy gangster. He drives a pink Lamborghini, hangs out in nightclubs, and is covered in tattoos. Though it was polarizing, it was at least unlike any Joker that came before.
7 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) - Available On HBO Max
After so many years of playing Roman Pierce in the Fast & Furious franchise, Tyrese Gibson has finally gotten a role in a different property, and it seems like it’s going to be an important part of the movie. The actor plays FBI agent Simon Stroud, who is trying to hunt down Morbius. It’s hard to imagine Gibson in a serious role, as he’s such a hype man and somewhat of a joker based on his work in the Fast & Furious series.
But viewers can’t help but smile whenever he’s on-screen, and the best example of that is in his breakthrough movie, 2 Fast 2 Furious, as things immediately become something much bigger when he’s first introduced. Gibson is responsible for many of the best scenes, whether it’s antagonizing gangsters or busting Brian’s chops at every chance he gets. Bringing that kind of energy to Morbius, which looks pretty gloomy, is exactly what the movie needs.
6 Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) - Available On HBO Max
Though Suicide Squad was financially successful, it was universally panned and fans of the series were split on Leto’s gangster-like portrayal of the most famous movie villain of all time.
However, with the newly released Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a four-hour version of the 2017 movie with tons of new footage, the epilogue actually redeems Jared Leto’s Joker. The gangster attitude is dropped and it’s a brilliant philosophical conversation that goes back and forth between the Joker and Batman. And it’s the chief example of how great Morbius can be, being led by Leto.
5 Dallas Buyers Club (2013) - Available On Peacock
After getting so much flack for some of his more recent movie choices, it’s easy for viewers to forget that Jared Leto is actually an Academy Award-winning actor. In 2013, Leto won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Rayon, a transgender AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club.
Having swept up most of the acting categories at the Oscars, the movie is so powerful due to the performances, and there's a reason why most audiences, even its stars, love it so much.
4 Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - Available On HBO Max
Being the long-awaited sequel to arguably the biggest cult movie of all time, Blade Runner 2049 is one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies, but Gosling isn’t the only actor who pulls in a great performance.
In the movie, Jared Leto plays the evil CEO of Wallace Corporation, Niander Wallace, and just like most of Leto’s roles, the character is typically strange, as he spends a lot of time sitting in a chamber surrounded by water. Given the dark tone of Morbius and how the character is a villain, 2049 is the perfect movie to watch to see how Leto could portray the vampire.
3 Lost River (2014) - Available To Rent On Vudu
After shooting two movies with visceral filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, Ryan Gosling directed a movie of his own in a very similar style to Drive and Only God Forgives. Lost River is visually stunning and completely ambiguous, just like the work of Refn.
The highlight of the whole movie is Matt Smith, who plays Bully, a man who lives up to his name and who runs the criminal underbelly of the small town. He’s psychotic in the way he deals with problems head on, and it’s quite a departure from the actor’s role as the Doctor in Doctor Who. In Morbius, Smith plays a friend of the titular character who suffers from the same blood disease, and it could be that he has a much bigger role than fans actually know.
2 Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (2011) - Available On HBO Max
Jared Harris is one of those actors who pops up in so many films and can be found all over TV, even if he isn’t immediately known by general audiences. In Morbius, Harris plays the titular character’s mentor, which is the type of role he has become known for playing.
Having been a character actor for decades, he’s given so many great performances, but he’s most well known for playing the iconic James Moriarty in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows. After the first movie, A Game of Shadows pulled a Dark Knight, by having Holmes go up against his toughest foe, and outside of BBC’s Sherlock, it’s the best on-screen depiction of Moriarty.
1 Blade (1998) - Available On HBO Max
So many studios seem wary to make an R-rated movie, as they fear they won’t make any money. However, the 1990s was a very different time and studios hadn’t quite realized what was possible with the Marvel properties. Due to that, fans were treated to an R-rated Blade movie. The film follows the character who has vampire strengths and uses them to hunt down vampires.
Though it’s unlikely that it’ll happen, Blade is one of the characters fans want to see in a cameo. But as the character of Blade has been cast for an upcoming MCU movie, it just got a little more likely, as Mahershala Ali will be portraying the vampire hunter in the reboot.
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March 31, 2021 at 05:30AM
