The Jared Leto starrer Morbius has been postponed once again

Fans of Marvel Comics will have to wait a little longer to see one of the most iconic vampires make his big-screen debut. Sony Pictures announced on Monday that the release of Morbius would be delayed by three months. The film, which is part of Sony's Spider-Man cinematic universe, will be released on April 1, 2022, rather than January 28.

It's not the first time Morbius has had to reschedule its red carpet premiere. The film was scheduled to premiere on July 10, 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans. As the pandemic has raged, Morbius has cycled through release dates, first on July 31, 2020, then March 19, 2021, then October 8, 2021, and finally January 21, 2022, before shifting back to the January 28 date that it just vacated. Omicron is just the most recent unexpected twist in a pandemic that refuses to die.

Morbius will now compete with Easter Sunday, a comedy starring Jimmy O Yang and Tiffany Haddish, and The Contractor, a thriller starring Chris Pine.

Sony recently had massive box office successes with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, so it makes sense that it would try to give Morbius a longer run at a time when the public health situation is complicating things. The stakes are high because the studio is also planning another standalone spinoff based on Spidey villain Kraven the Hunter. Sony acquires the Spider-Man character, as well as the rights to his various antagonists and allies, from Marvel in a deal that predates the comic book company's major foray into filmmaking and acquisition by the Walt Disney Company.

In the film, Jared Leto plays the antihero Michael Morbius, who takes a desperate gamble in order to treat a rare blood disorder that makes him more familiar with the darkness within himself. Daniel Espinosa directed Morbius, which stars Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson.