Hearing that a Hollywood heavyweight watched your worst flop can give you goosebumps. That’s the misadventure Matt Smith found himself in when he learned that Keanu Reeves sat through Morbius on a long-haul flight.
It’s a regular debate that stirs our coffee breaks at Écran Large: what is the absolute worst clunker in the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (minus Spider-Man)? If the competition is stiff against Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter and Venom, Morbius comfortably sits atop our crude hierarchy. Led by a Jared Leto in total freewheeling mode as Dr. Michael Morbius (or Michel Morbier if he’d been born in France), the film also saddled the poor Matt Smith with the role of the milquetoast antagonist Milo, phoning it in with little conviction.
Fortunately, audiences had the good sense to stay away from this disaster, producing a global box office crash that stalled at $167 million on a production budget of $75 million. Despite this debacle, Sony’s brain trust pressed on with the folly, flirting with reviving Morbius and Venom, a textbook example of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result. Matt Smith himself wouldn’t endorse that stubborn plan, bluntly saying that no one should be forced to sit through this purge.
Alive or Morbius
Appearing on the online program Royal Court, hosted by Brittany Broski, Matt Smith was stunned by a totally surreal anecdote. The host revealed that the great Keanu Reeves himself had been spotted mid-flight, watching that atrocious Morbius. The confession sent the British actor into a stunned mental loop.
« Was he really watching Morbius? On a plane? What do you even watch on a flight? Surely not that bloody Morbius, hell! My God, he must have combed through the depths of British Airways’ library to land on that. »
While Brittany Broski teased that the John Wick star must have been completely wasted to embark on such a viewing, the former Doctor Who actor piled on, imagining a moment of deep psychological distress.
« He must have been going through a rough patch. He was probably on Valium or something like that. »
After this playful jab at his own film, the English actor, also famed for Terminator: Genisys, hurried to voice his admiration for the Hollywood legend, reminding everyone just how much Keanu Reeves commands respect:
« I love Keanu Reeves; he’s the kind of guy you’d want as a friend. What an incredible movie star! Plus, he has an angelic look. If you ever need a guardian angel in life, please pray it’s Keanu Reeves. I’m a devoted fan of his 90s film era, starting with Point Break. I truly believe he’s the best of us. »
Fortunately for his sanity and his filmography, Matt Smith has since left Sony’s labs to ride winged creatures once more in the third season of House of the Dragon, a project far more prestigious and acclaimed. That said, he’ll be seen in Star Wars: Starfighter opposite Ryan Gosling in May 2027, noting that he was originally cast in Star Wars 9.
