Morbius release date delayed as Marvel considers Disney Plus release for Black Widow

Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow
(Image credit: Marvel)

It’s a day ending with ‘y’, so you know what that means: more news of movie release delays. This time, it’s Morbius – the comic book thriller starring Jared Leto was originally scheduled for release on March 19, 2021, but it’s now been pushed back to October 8. 

The movie is directed by Daniel Espinosa, who previously helmed tthe thriller Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Leto plays the title character in Morbius, alongside a supporting cast including Matt Smith, Jared Harris, and Tyrese Gibson.

Morbius, originally a notorious Spider-Man villain, is a biochemist who becomes a vampire after attempting to cure himself of a rare blood disease. Although the character hails from Marvel comics, Morbius is not part of the MCU, instead appearing in Sony’s arsenal of superheroes alongside Tom Hardy’s Venom. 

Venom 2 is also scheduled to come out this year, on June 25, but so far this date has not been pushed back to join Morbius. Could this suggest that the two stories are not linked, or at the very least don’t need to be watched in a particular order, despite coming from the same cinematic universe?

In other superhero news, Variety also reports that there have been talks about giving the long-awaited Black Widow movie a hybrid release in cinemas and on Disney Plus through Premiere Access. The same thing is planned for upcoming animation Raya and the Last Dragon, which will cost $30/£20 to stream on Disney Plus upon initial release. The same release strategy was used for Mulan. 

If the hybrid approach is adopted by Disney, the studio will be following in the footsteps of Warner Bros. All of their 2021 movies, including Dune and The Suicide Squad, will release simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max.

While we wait for Morbius and Black Widow, check out our list of the other upcoming movie release dates to look forward to this year.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.