It seems Morbius actor Matt Smith feels the same way about the movie as pretty much everyone else!
The House of the Dragon star was a guest on Brittany Broski's Royal Court recently, and was surprised to learn that Keanu Reeves (Constantine, The Gift) was spotted watching the much-maligned Sony Pictures Marvel Comics movie on a flight (we hadn't heard this before, but apparently the story has been doing the rounds for a while).
"F*ck off! You are joking," Smith replied before explaining why he's such a huge fan of the John Wick star. When Broski followed up by asking Smith what he would usually watch on a flight, he said: "Not f*cking Morbius. My God, he must really have gone through the BA library to be getting to that. He must have been having a moment."
Smith played the villainous Milo, whose dance scene remains one of the most memorable moments (though not for the right reasons) in the history of comic book movies.
Smith clearly doesn't mind being brutally honest about Morbius now, but he was slightly more diplomatic when asked about the movie's reception a few years ago.
"Yeah, it was thrown under the bus," Smith said of the movie's critical lambasting shortly after its release. "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."
Morbius did not receive a warm welcome (Baltic would be more accurate) from critics when it hit theaters back in 2022, but the Sony Pictures Spider-Man-less Spider-Man spin-off did fare slightly better with audiences.
Whether the majority of fans actually believe the movie is better than its reputation suggests or are simply having a bit of fun is obviously up for debate, but either way, Morbius' measly 15% Rotten Tomatoes critics score stands in stark contrast to the audience's 71%.
The studio attempted to capitalize by re-releasing Morbius in theaters, and while that turned out to be a huge misstep, the movie has gone on to amass something of a cult following over the years.
"One of the most compelling and conflicted characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel 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. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil – or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?"