MORBIUS Star Jared Harris Reflects On His Marvel Experience: "I Have Got A Mortgage To Pay..."

MORBIUS Star Jared Harris Reflects On His Marvel Experience: "I Have Got A Mortgage To Pay..."

We can add another actor to the list of Morbius stars who have looked back at their experience working on the project in a negative light as Jared Harris has shared his take on where it all went wrong.

By JoshWilding - Sep 20, 2024 06:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Morbius
Source: i News

Given Sony Pictures' track record with its Marvel movies, no one had particularly high hopes for Morbius before it was released in 2022. Still, the potential for the Living Vampire to take centre stage in a fun, horror-tinged adventure was definitely there. 

Unfortunately, the version we got was a disaster. Boasting one of the worst post-credits scenes ever put on film, Morbius was a mess of a movie which stars Matt Smith, Tyrese, and Al Madrigal have all suggested wasn't the project they signed up for (the entire final act was reworked with extensive reshoots).

Now, Mad Men star Jared Harris has weighed in; the actor didn't have the most memorable role as Dr. Emil Nicholas, Michael Morbius' father figure, though it's possible he had more to do before additional photography took place. 

Either way, when the actor recently spoke with i News, he bemoaned how Hollywood has largely taken a "ticking boxes" and "mass-production" approach to filmmaking in recent years. Why then did Harris sign up for a movie like Morbius

"Sure, yeah," he said with a shrug when the site reminded him of the role. "I have got a mortgage to pay, you know. Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money."

As for how he found the experience, Harris added, "I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humour. You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare. So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humour."

It's unfortunate that many actors don't necessarily differentiate between Marvel Studios and Sony's Marvel; this experience may have soured Harris on ever giving the genre another chance. 

These comments come after Morbius director Daniel Espinosa recently said, "To make a movie through committee, I think, is very hard, and I felt in the end that maybe a different director would have been a better fit. I’m known amongst the studios to be a person with a lot of opinions, and maybe they were not looking for that kind of director."

Morbius ended by setting the stage for a Sinister Six movie which was seemingly meant to put a heroic spin on the villainous team. Whether Sony plans to return to that idea in Venom: The Last Dance or Kraven the Hunter remains to be seen. 

Recent reports have suggested that the idea now is to bring Venom into the MCU, a sign perhaps that Sony has moved on from its crossover plans and will make these movies standalone in the same way as Madame Web (not that things turned out particularly well for that project, of course). 

Do you think Sony dropped the ball with Morbius?

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DarrenCorvil
DarrenCorvil - 9/20/2024, 6:59 AM
Great article, I'm waiting for @dravencorvis to tear it apart!
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/20/2024, 7:04 AM
That’s understandable , we all need to survive in this world so sometimes doing jobs isn’t about the love of the game so to speak but could be just for practical reasons.

I still haven’t seen Morbius nor do I have any strong desire to anytime soon but from what I have heard , he didn’t have a particularly big role nor much to do as Morbius’s father figure/mentor so I hope he it hasn’t soured his experience of working in this genre again since he’s a great actor and could fit a few characters imo…

Hell , he’s been one of my picks to play MCU Doc Ock if/when we get him.

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Also a lot of Shakespeare’s stories have a sense of humor aswell as I’m sure he knows , they aren’t all always about philosophical ruminations lol.

You can’t be too deadly serious imo since very few things in life are (and even then at times you can find humor in them also) and it seems like Morbius fell into that trap.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/20/2024, 7:27 AM
@TheVisionary25 - that would be a great choice for Harris, although I kinda wanna see him as Korvac
Goldboink
Goldboink - 9/20/2024, 10:00 AM
@TheVisionary25 - I was a big fan of Morbius when he originally came out and I will not expose myself to the trash that they shoveled out for this movie.
LSHF
LSHF - 9/20/2024, 7:23 AM
"Sony" Experience, not "Marvel". They are two different studios.

I know that we all know that, but still, I wish these actors/writers would clarify the difference.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/20/2024, 7:34 AM
@LSHF - im not sure they entirely know the difference either
LSHF
LSHF - 9/20/2024, 7:37 AM
@TheVisionary25 - Doesn't surprise me.
elcapitan
elcapitan - 9/20/2024, 8:23 AM
No actor will ever say an outright no to Marvel when the paycheck is so good. That is unless they are so rich they don’t need the money.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 9/20/2024, 9:29 AM
"So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humour."

Oh, whoever in the company office that looked at the audience reviews definitely had that in spades.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 9/20/2024, 11:23 AM
@Reeds2Much - Glad you're back.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 9/20/2024, 2:59 PM
@GeneralZod - I still doom scroll, but the chaos has kind of got generic so I don't feel the urge to poke as often, but thank you.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 9/20/2024, 11:27 AM
"You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare."

I think a serious actor can and should take CBM roles seriously. Gravitas matters.

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