Jared Leto has already played a comic book character when he became the latest actor to portray the Joker in Suicide Squad, but now he gets to bring someone from page to screen for the first time. The Oscar winner is the star of Sony's Morbius, the latest installment in their blossoming universe based on Spider-Man characters. Leto plays Dr. Michael Morbius, who transforms into a vampire as he tries to find a cure for his disease.
Screen Rant spoke with Leto about playing Morbius, his love of vampires, and much more.
Screen Rant: First of all, what pulled you back into the comic book world after Joker?
Jared Leto: You know, I'm just a sucker for...
A pun, clearly.
Jared Leto: That's right. I'm a sucker for a pun. Thank you. You're a good partner.
Look, what I loved about this is it was an opportunity to bring the character to life for the very first time. And it's harder and harder to do that, because a lot of these incredible, iconic characters have been portrayed. They've been realized before. So, that was really exciting to start from scratch. I was excited to be part of what Marvel's doing with these characters, and I thought Sony is just doing an incredible job.
And I'm also a sucker for a big fun popcorn movie. I think it's exciting that this is exclusively in theaters, and it's coming out April 1, at this time where we're having a little sense of normalcy in some parts of the world. I think that's really nice as well.
You mentioned Morbius being on screen for the first time. The only onscreen reference I have is the cartoon back in the day. Did you watch that?
Jared Leto: I didn't. I'm too old.
He had the suckers in his hands!
Jared Leto: Yes, and you've got to be careful. You never know, but it could be coming. Whoa, make you get a phobia of people's fingers.
It was supposed to be tamer, but it actually scared me even more. What training do you do to play a vampire character like Morbius? Please tell me there's some kind of vampire school.
Jared Leto: You know, I've always loved vampires. I love the Anne Rice novels. One of the very first movies I ever saw was Dracula; that black-and-white Dracula. So, I've always loved that. I love The Hunger with David Bowie, it was a great film not a lot of people have seen.
For me, there's something iconic about the opportunity. It's one of the roles that you want to play, so it's great to do a different spin. This isn't exactly a vampire, but some of those qualities are there.
Have you been able to wrap your head around the multiverse, timeline-wise? One of the biggest questions that people have is who you’re able to go toe-to-toe with. Which Spider-Man would you face? Do you know any of those answers?
Jared Leto: Well, I think Tom Holland and I have a date with destiny. I think he is, by the way, just a phenomenal actor. What a great Spider Man. I really think he's just a terrific talent.
But it would be great to get in the ring with him and go head-to-head, for sure.
I loved how contained and accessible the story was, but the big question that I always have after watching is, "What happens next?" There are character Easter eggs hidden in this movie, one being Black Cat in the newspaper in the trailer. Who would you want to mix it up with in the future? Is there anyone that you're thinking of beyond Tom Holland's Spider-Man?
Jared Leto: Besides Robert Downey's Iron Man, there are so many people that would be fantastic. But, of course, Venom would make a lot of sense. That would be fun.
Do you have a Tron 3 update for us?
Jared Leto: I'm a super fan of Tron, and we are working hard on Tron with our incredible partners at Disney. Just an amazing group of creative people.
We're getting closer. We're getting closer and closer, and who knows? Something may be [coming] sooner than later.
