Matt Smith Reveals the Batman Tribute He Tried to Hide in 'Morbius'

Matt Smith is opening up about one of the ideas he wanted to bring to Morbius that never made it into the final movie. The House of the Dragon star revealed that he tried to include a famous Batman reference in the Sony superhero film, but the moment was removed before release.

During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with host Josh Horowitz, Smith talked about his experience playing complicated characters who often exist in morally gray areas. The actor discussed roles like Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon and Patrick Bateman from the stage version of American Psycho, explaining that actors often enjoy pushing characters to uncomfortable places.

Horowitz suggested that performers like to challenge audiences by seeing how far they can take a character before viewers stop connecting with them. Smith agreed and explained that exploring those limits is part of what makes acting interesting.

“I think it’s intrinsic to every actor. You want to push your own limits as well, right?” Smith said during the conversation.

While discussing characters who cross moral lines, Smith brought up one of the most famous villain quotes from cinema history. He revealed that he attempted to use the Joker’s iconic line from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie during Morbius, but the reference was cut.

“What’s that line? It’s Jack Nicholson. ‘Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?’” Smith said.

The actor then explained that he actually delivered the line while filming Morbius and hoped the filmmakers would keep it as a fun tribute.

“I got that line in Morbius, by the way, and they f—king cut it out! I improvised that line. I was like, ‘Come on, let’s nick that from Big Jack.’ And they cut the f—ker out. Can you believe it?” Smith told Horowitz.

The moment led to a funny exchange between the actor and the podcast host. Horowitz joked that removing the Batman reference was the real reason Morbius struggled, saying, “That was the problem with the movie.”

Smith laughed and agreed, joking that the deleted scene could have completely changed the movie’s reputation.

“That was! That would have just changed the whole damn thing, wouldn’t it? Jesus Christ.”

Smith also spoke about another memorable Morbius scene that fans often mention: Milo dancing shirtless in front of a mirror. The actor explained that the unusual moment was not originally planned during the main production. Instead, it was created later when the team returned for additional filming.

“Basically, we came back like months later [after initial filming] and they were like, ‘Well, we don’t know what we’re gonna do with this. Why don’t we whack your top off and get you to dance in the mirror?’ And I was like, ‘Cool. Okay. Yeah, let’s go!’” Smith said.

Morbius was released in 2022 as part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the movie starred Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, with Smith playing the villainous Milo. The film faced a difficult release after multiple delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite having a recognizable cast and connection to Spider-Man characters, Morbius received mostly negative reviews from critics and earned around $167 million worldwide. The movie later became widely discussed online because of memes and jokes about its reception.

Although Morbius did not become the superhero success Sony hoped for, Smith’s comments show that the actor was willing to experiment and add his own ideas to the character. Fans can now only imagine whether the missing Batman homage would have changed the way audiences viewed the film.

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