Morbius The Living Vampire: Spider-Man spin-off in development at Sony

The third film in Sony’s Marvel Universe

With Thor: Ragnarok currently sitting atop the international box-office — and Justice League looking to take that spot next weekend — Sony are champing at the bit for some superhero action.

Earlier this year, the studio released Spider-Man: Homecoming, a collaboration with Marvel Studios that saw Peter Parker join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, the studio are now looking to create their own cinematic superhero universe, one formed of Spider-Man characters but not actually featuring Spider-Man and titled Sony’s Marvel Universe.

First off, there’s Venom, the Tom Hardy-starring flick that began filming earlier this year. Then there’s Silver & Black, which centres on the superheroes Black Cat and Silver Sable and will be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. No casting has been announced.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Sony are moving forward with an adaptation of Morbius, the Living Vampire.

The character — a former scientist named Dr. Michael Morbius who attempts to cure an affliction but develops a form of vampirism — first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101, beginning as an antagonist but becoming a flawed hero over time.

Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama, who recently worked on the Power Rangers reboot, will script the upcoming project. The writing duo previously wrote the vampire movie Dracula Untold, which featured Luke Evans as the titular character, along with the fantasy action film The Last Witch Hunter and the adventure flick Gods of Egypt.

Sony has not commented on the situation. Meanwhile, Venom reaches cinemas 5 October 2018.