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  1. Entertainment
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  4. Marvel Movies
  5. Morbius

Hereditary and Midsommar director Ari Aster turned down Sony's infamous Marvel flop Morbius, and now I need to know what that film would have looked like

News
By Molly Edwards published 18 July 2025

Ari Aster was asked to direct Morbius

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Jared Leto in Morbius
(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)
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Ari Aster might be best known for his chilling horror movies Midsommar and Hereditary, but he also could've been known for something far more infamous: Morbius.

"I feel like I shouldn't say. Should I?... I was asked to do... is it Mobius? Morbius?" Aster said on the Mixed Signals from Semafor Media podcast.

Morbius, of course, is Sony's notorious Marvel flop, starring Jared Leto as the titular living vampire. Reviled by critics, it took just $167.5 million at the global box office. It was even re-released, though it drew in only $280,000 across the weekend. It has a score of only 15% on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Still, though, I can't deny being very curious about what an Aster-led Morbius would have looked like. The vampiric nature of it all certainly lends itself to horror, after all, though perhaps not Aster's specific, anxiety-inducing brand of nightmare fuel.

"I have got a mortgage to pay, you know. Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money," Morbius star Jared Harris said of the film last year.

Aster's next film is Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler. It's out now in the US, and it arrives in the UK this August 22.

As for Sony's Marvel projects, next up is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which is set to arrive on June 4, 2027.

In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything the MCU has in store.

Molly Edwards
Molly Edwards
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Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film section. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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