Even Jared Leto Got In On The ‘Morbius’ Meme Craze That May Have Driven It Back Into Movie Theaters

Morbius was that rarest of beasts: a comic book movie that dramatically underperforms. The Jared Leto-starrer couldn’t even blame the pandemic, which no longer keeps younger (or, now, older) audiences at home. But the poorly-reviewed film has enjoyed an irony-soaked second life: It became a target for jokey memes, which became so popular that the film is getting a theatrical Mulligan. Now even the film’s star is getting on the action.

The Oscar-winner posted a video on Twitter, which finds him sitting on a couch, idly paging through a script. The cameraperson asks what he’s looking at. He feigns disinterest, eventually letting us see the title: Morbius 2: It’s Morbin’ Time, credited to one “Bartholomew Cubbins.” (Real Dr. Seuss heads know that’s the hero of his deepish cut book The 500 Hats of Bartholmew Cubbins.)

It’s an example of an actor trying to show there’s no hard feelings that a pet project became something of a joke. Indeed, over the last two weeks the movie has repeatedly trended on Twitter, and not because fans adore it. That may have been enough to get it back on screens — albeit in limited capacity; in New York City, the film is mostly consigned to a single, mid-evening showing — but it probably won’t get a sequel.

Among the details that caused the movie’s infamy is reports from the set, which revealed yet more wacko Leto tomfoolery. A committed (but not technically Method) actor, he stayed in character to such an extent that he even took 45 minutes to go to the bathroom, before the crew started pushing him around in a wheelchair so they could stay on schedule. Alas, he might not get another chance to do that again.