The Marvel Universe got a whole lot more diverse with Jared Leto's decision to sign on to Daniel Espinosa's Morbius project. Leto had been courted for the role for some time, but has only given his okay as of now. The Morbius character played by Leto will be solely based upon the Spider Man villain of the same name.
For those unfamiliar with his likeness, Morbius is a brilliant scientist born in Greece who was a rare genetic disorder which turned into a living vampire. Upon visiting America, he encountered Spider Man as the hero was trying to reverse his own genetic conditioning, and from there the blood feud was born.
According to Variety, Leto wanted to play Morbius all along, but waited assuredly to see if the project was headed in the right direction. Leto asked to meet several of the filmmakers tied to the project, then scheduled a rendez-vous with another candidate in Daniel Espisnosa while in Germany. The two hit it off, and Espinosa was subsequently chosen among the candidates. Rare is it for a lead actor to be earmarked before the creative chair is even assumed, but Leto has the pedigree to play the role, having acted in 2016's Suicide Squad as the Joker. No date has been encircled for production as of yet.