IGN is excited to offer the first look at the trailer for Morbius from Sony Pictures, which you can watch above. Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Life), the film stars Jared Leto as genius-scientist Dr. Michael Morbius, a Marvel Comics character who accidentally becomes a monster while trying to create a cure for his rare blood disease.

Jared Leto stars as Dr. Michael Morbius

“ "That battle between the light and dark is something that [Morbius] fights throughout the film."

Morbius Trailer: 58 Images from the Jared Leto Marvel Movie 59 IMAGES

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“ "Morbius is an imperfect person. He's not your grandfather's superhero."

Every Spider-Man Movie Spin-Off in Development 15 IMAGES

“Morbius, the man, is a pretty complex character. That's what I was really attracted to. This is somebody who has a lot of conflict in his life,” Leto told IGN. “He's a guy who's born with this horrible disease and is really a gifted person. When he was young, he was very curious about science and medicine and decided to dedicate his life to find a cure for the disease that he's afflicted with and that others like him have, as well. But along the way, all hell breaks loose.”Given the carnage that unfolds in the trailer, that’s an understatement.In the comics, Morbius is referred to as “Morbius, the Living Vampire” because he transforms into a vampire-like creature with pale skin, incredible strength and speed, night vision, and a thirst for blood so he may sustain his life, although there’s nothing supernatural about him. He’s not like Dracula, meaning he’s not an ancient being who gets weakened by garlic, sunlight, or crosses. He’s very much a freak accident of modern science and a tragic monster of his own making. Morbius started out as a Spider-Man villain -- a gifted scientist-turned-monster not unlike the Lizard or Doctor Octopus -- but after reckoning with what he had become, he decided to use his abilities, freakish though they may be, to help people as a Marvel anti-hero.The trailer teases larger connections to Sony’s other Spider-Man movies in the form of a vandalized Spider-Man poster glimpsed in the background and an appearance from Michael Keaton’s Vulture. There’s also the flashing of the movie titles for Homecoming, Far From Home, and Venom, implying these films are all connected. But much like 2017’s Venom movie starring Tom Hardy, this film will focus squarely on the titular character to tell a standalone origin story.It’s that very plight that drew Leto to the character. “There's a line in the film where Morbius says that he's been dying his entire life and now feels more alive than ever. And I think that sums it up,” Leto explained. “Here's someone who's been afflicted with this horrendous disease and has had all kinds of challenges and has been in pursuit of this cure. And then all of a sudden has this power and this physical strength, which is all incredible, but there is a flip side to it, as well. There's a dark side. So that battle between the light and dark is something that he fights throughout the film.”As we see in the trailer, Michael Morbius gains several superpowers as a result of experimenting with bat DNA to cure his condition. He lifts an impossibly heavy object with super-strength, moves at great speed while leaving a misty, colorful trail in his wake, slices a metal pipe (and a man’s face) with a gnarly set of claws, and senses the environment with echolocation. It’s all a pretty sweet package, were it not for the overpowering urge to consume blood.But it’s that element of darkness that has allowed the character to endure in Marvel’s pantheon of iconic characters. There’s simply no other character quite like him. Yes, Bruce Banner struggles to contain the rage of the Hulk and Black Widow defies the conditioning that would have her be a merciless assassin, but no other marquee Marvel do-gooder must deal with the fact that, deep down, they just want to eat people. Or rather, drink their life essence like a cherry Slurpee.“Inside of Morbius, there's a person who has a moral code. There's a good person. Ultimately it's that common struggle between good and evil. And, I guess, we'll see what ultimately prevails,” Leto teased. “That's what I like a lot about this movie. We're not walking such a clear path. There's not a clear line between what's right and what's wrong. There's some gray area there. And Morbius is an imperfect person. He's not your grandfather's superhero. He's a deeply complex character and imperfect. And I really loved that aspect that here we're taking someone who is like all of us, has a fair amount of challenges and issues.”The official synopsis for Morbius reads, “One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease.”Morbius releases on July 31 in the US and UK, and July 30 in the AU. Joining Leto in the cast are Matt Smith Adria Arjona , Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson

Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. You can reach out to him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN