Tyrese gives us our first taste of Spider-Man spinoff film Morbius

We're getting our first look at the set of Sony-Marvel's Spider-Man spinoff Morbius, thanks to actor Tyrese Gibson. Gibson shared the set photo on the social media platform Instagram. The photo shows Gibson alongside the film's director Daniel Espinosa. It's a rare glimpse at the antihero movie currently filming in the United Kingdom.

Morbius stars Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) as Dr. Michael Morbius. The doctor accidentally turns himself into a vampire after an experiment to treat his rare blood disorder goes awry. As time goes on, Morbius looks less human as he takes on more bat-like features. Gibson (Fast and Furious) plays Agent Stroud, the man tasked with taking down Morbius.

Here's a look at Gibson as Stroud via Instagram:

The caption reads, in part: 

"On set in London, UK standing next to a man who is brilliant beyond...... Our director Daniel Espinosa!! [...] I have to apologize I get nervous cause he directed my all time sometimes cause he directed my all time HERO Denzel and he’s been on my #BucketList of directors I’ve always wanted to dance with...... And it happened!!!!!!!!!! #InTheWoods"

As Gibson says above, he's a pretty big fan of Espinosa (Life, Child 44). Espinosa's stylized work on the 2017 sci-fi horror film Life helped give him some genre bona fides. Espinosa's work tends towards the dark and dramatic. It will be compelling to see how (and if) he translates this signature style to the antihero genre. Morbius will also star Jared Harris, Adria Arjona, and (maybe) Matt Smith.

Morbius, The Living Vampire, was created in 1971 by writer Gerry Conway and artist Gila Kane. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101. The good doctor is an accomplished biochemist who has won the Nobel Prize; everything's going so well for him! Except when he tries to cure himself of the rare blood disease dissolving his cells.

He turns himself into an almost-vampire after he injects himself with a cure made from bats. The good news is, he's not dead. The bad news? He's not necessarily alive either. He does gain some notable powers like speed and strength, so it's not all bad.

Riding off of Venom's success, Sony seems eager to capitalize on the hunger for a different kind of superhero movie. It's not clear how Morbius will fit in with the Spider-Man Universe, but you can bet we're dying to find out. 

Morbius flies into theaters on July 31, 2020.