Few movies in recent memory have been bigger flops than Sony Pictures' Morbius. Starring Jared Leto and Matt Smith, the movie endured more than two years of delays before debuting in theaters to a dismal showing, having only made about $160 million at the global box office.
But even worse than the box office were the reviews for Morbius, which described it as an absolutely abysmal movie from every aspect of the filmmaking process. Fans were left angry and resentful after Sony delivered its worst superhero movie ever, even after widely mixed results from both of the studio's Venom movies, and Morbius became a trending topic due for the worst reasons imaginable.
Leading actor Jared Leto has received most of the criticism from the acting side, although he's largely taken it in stride by joining in the fan discussion regarding some of the more outlandish news from the movie's release. Now, his co-star, Matt Smith, has joined the conversation by sharing his thoughts on what happened with this movie's disastrous theatrical run.
Matt Smith Opens Up on Morbius Experience
Morbius star Matt Smith spoke with Rolling Stone about his thoughts on what happened with Sony Pictures' latest superhero movie.
While he admits that the film was "thrown under the bus" by critics and audiences, he also settled with the fact that it's just something that he and his co-stars "have to roll with:"
“Yeah, it was thrown under the bus. But you just have to roll with it. What else are you gonna do? It’s a film, at the end of the day, we’re not saving lives. For whatever reason, it didn’t quite work out and… It is what it is.”
Via ComicBook, Smith also spoke a bit about the film at a recent House of the Dragon Q&A panel during San Diego Comic-Con, after a fan surprised him with the widely popular "It's Morbin' Time" meme that made its way across the internet after the movie's release.
The fan recited the phrase prior to asking a question, but Smith wasn't aware of the phrase and was left confused, exclaiming, "What?" It was then explained to the actor that the Morbin' meme was something said by fans who enjoyed the movie, to which Smith replied that the fan watched a completely different movie than the one he was in.
Smith was also asked about what it would be like for his Morbius character, Milo, to live in Westeros due to his involvement in the Game of Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragons. He admitted that it would be hard for Milo to live in that world as a vampire:
“He’s a vampire so he would struggle with it. I’m glad you watched a completely different movie than I did.”
Morbius Still Seen as Massive Flop
Before Morbius released in theaters, Matt Smith did his best in keeping optimism that this Spider-Man spin-off would have a chance to expand far beyond what he and Jared Leto did in their first movie. However, with the movie now out in the world and at the mercy of ruthless fans who saw what Sony put forth, even he admitted that things didn't go according to plan.
While Smith wasn't necessarily the biggest reason that Morbius turned into a critical and financial failure, his performance wasn't nearly enough to bring much positivity to its release.
Thankfully, being a veteran in the movie industry, he took the hit in stride and simply accepted that the movie wasn't what everybody expected, not lingering too much on the negativity that surrounded its arrival. Whether he finds his way back into any superhero projects in the future is a mystery, but he certainly has the best view that he possibly can on how badly things went with this experience.
Morbius is now available via digital and physical media.
