Jared Harris says ‘Morbius’ flopped because it didn’t have a “sense of humour”
Jared Harris has opened up about the Marvel film Morbius in which he starred, saying it could have done with a greater “sense of humour”.
The Spider-Man spin-off was released in 2022 after several delays due to the Coronavirus pandemic and starred Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson alongside Harris.
The film was both a commercial and critical flop, grossing only $167.5 million (£125 million) worldwide.
In a one-star review of the film, NME wrote: “If the plot sounds slight, that’s because it is. None of the characters have meaningful motives – and they’re so thinly drawn that they’re almost transparent. Astoundingly, for a film about a mad doctor who turns into a vampire, it’s also very boring. Horror fans attracted by the sinister promo campaign will be disappointed. You’ll see more claret in your local off-licence.
“All this could be excused if there were a few jokes to pass the time or some stylishly shot sequences. Instead, what we end up with is drab, flat and humourless. Leto was unfairly maligned for his exuberant, ridiculous performance as Paolo in House of Gucci but that at least had life and energy. Morbius is dead on arrival.”
Addressing his time in the MCU in a new interview with The i, Harris says he took the role for the money, saying: “I have got a mortgage to pay, you know. Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money.”
Opening up about the MCU and the film, he explained:“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.”
Meanwhile, Marvel’s latest outing Agatha All Along is earning rave reviews from critics.
The show sees actor Kathryn Hahn reprise her role as witch Agatha Harkness, which she first played in the similarly praised WandaVision that arrived in 2021. It also stars Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke and sees Agatha trying to reclaim her powers as she takes part in the ‘Witches’ Road Trials’.
The show has nine episodes in total and the first four have been widely praised by critics.
Justin Lawrence of Geekcentric said “this WandaVision spin-off keeps the mystery alive by casting a new bewitching spell”, adding that “Kathryn Hahn is perfection, embracing every wicked moment. The musical elements don’t just enhance—they enchant. This is the magic the #MCU needs”.
The Movie Podcast host Daniel Baptista called Hahn’s performance both “spellbinding” and “deliciously devious.”
And in a glowing four star review, NME added: “it’s hard to find anything else like Agatha All Along anywhere else on TV.”
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Elizabeth Aubrey
NME
