Earlier this year, Morbius became that rare beast: an underperforming comic book movie. Plagued with poor reviews and bizarre behind-the-scenes revelations, the DCEU entry fared much better as a social media joke, which became so voluminous that a) star Jared Leto got in on it and b) Sony added more theaters, hoping chuckleheads would go see it. (They did not.) But the jokes seem to have eluded one of its lead actors.
As per The AV Club, Matt Smith — second-billed in Morbius, as our hero’s surrogate brother-turned-villain — was at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, where he’s there to promote House of the Dragon. The former Doctor Who lead was sitting on a panel, minding his own business, when one attendee thought it would be funny to make a Morbius meme joke.
“Matt Smith, it’s Morbin’ time!” the guy said, to which Smith responded with a legitimately confused-seeming “It’s what?”
The fan tried to rebound, awkwardly reminding Smith that he “starred in a movie recently called, uh, Morbius, which was great.” He then tried to salvage the bit, asking Smith, “My question for you is how would you character in Morbius fit into the Game Of Thrones universe?”
Smith then tried to sincerely answer his question. “Well, I mean he’s a vampire, so I think he’d struggle first off,” he replied. “I don’t know really know how he’d fit into the Game Of Thrones universe. I think he would be a fish of water, in truth. I don’t think he’s got the chops to do it.” Eventually, he tried his best to stay professional about a movie he’s in that he may or may not actually like, saying, “But I’m glad you watched a completely different movie.”
In any case, Smith has bigger fish to fry these days: He’s one of the stars of a prequel to a show that is widely perceived to have had a disappointing ending. Perhaps he’s already forgotten about poor little Morbius.
(Via The AV Club)