Eddington’s Ari Aster Reveals Marvel Movie He Was Approached to Direct

Prior to choosing Daniel Espinosa as the director for Morbius, Sony initially aimed high by attempting to recruit a renowned independent filmmaker known for his successful horror films such as Hereditary and Midsommar.

What Marvel movie was Ari Aster offered?

During an interview on the Mixed Signals podcast, filmmaker Ari Aster admitted that there had been discussions about him directing a Marvel movie. He stated, “Yes, just once.” Although initially reluctant to disclose which specific film he was approached for, he eventually let it slip. “I’m not sure I should say. Shall I? I was asked to take charge of… Is it Mobius? Morbius? It might be Morbius,” he finally admitted.

After expressing admiration for Aster’s proposed version of Morbius, host Max Tani pointed out that the filmmaker may have escaped a disappointing outcome since Morbius turned out to be a significant failure for Sony. This remark led Aster to jest that he could have included it in his list of flops, a list that, in fairness to the director, currently only consists of his 2023 movie, Beau Is Afraid.

Listen to the full exchange between Mixed Signals and Aster, where their discussion about Morbius begins around the 37 minute and 57 second mark.

In 2022, Morbius, the third film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, hit theaters. Jared Leto portrays Dr. Michael Morbius, a scientist struggling with a rare blood disorder, who turns into a real-life vampire after trying to find a cure for himself. Unfortunately, this movie didn’t do well at the box office, earning only $167.5 million globally against an $83 million budget. Critics were generally unimpressed too. On Rotten Tomatoes, Morbius is tagged as “rotten,” having garnered a 15% positive rating.

Originally, Sony had high ambitions for Morbius within its Spider-Man Universe (SSU), hinting at a potential collaboration film with Michael Keaton’s Vulture in the post-credit scene. However, following the underperformance of Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter at the box office, Sony decided to momentarily halt the SSU development, opting instead to focus on the forthcoming Spider-Noir series on Prime Video, featuring Nicolas Cage.

Morbius is currently available to stream on Disney+ and HBO Max.

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2025-07-18 20:40