Actor Jared Leto has signed on to star in Morbius, a spin-off centering on Spider-Man's nemesis Morbius: The Living Vampire. Daniel Espinosa, who has films such as Safe House and Life to his credit, will direct the project for Sony, with a script from Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama

The film will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach alongside Lucas Foster, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Leto, 46, will play Michael Morbius, a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who tried to cure a rare blood disease using an experimental treatment that combines electroshock therapy and bats. However, the results were catastrophic and he developed vampiric qualities.