If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.
A Morbius/Batman crossover? Sony made sure that didn’t happen
Matt Smith tried to sneak a reference to Jack Nicholson's Joker from the 1989 Batman movie into Sony Pictures' Morbius, but, in his words, "they fucking cut it out"
Popverse's top stories
- Don't expect Resident Evil's main character to be a Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, or Jill Valentine. According to Weapons' Zach Cregger, he is just "an idiot"
- A decade before the X-Men movies even began, Jim Lee confirms he was making Charles Xavier Patrick Stewart
- MarriageToxin creator is "hella grateful" that anime Season 2 has been announced for 2027
In the 1989 Batman movie, Jack Nicholson delivers one of the best (if mildly nonsensical) lines in the film when he says, “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?” It has become iconic mainly for Nicholson’s delivery as Joker; so much so that Matt Smith tried to sneak it into his performance as the villain in Morbius until they cut it out in editing.
During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, House of the Dragon star Matt Smith revealed that he tried to pay homage to Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Morbius. While discussing how actors portraying villains need to push both their own limits and the audience's, he referenced that iconic Batman quote. “What’s that line? It’s Jack Nicholson. ‘Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?’ in Batman… I got that line in Morbius, by the way. And they fucking cut it out.”
Think a vampire in a Marvel movie referring to Batman is a little on the nose? Matt Smith doesn’t. “I improvised that line,” he boasted. “I was like, ‘Come on. Let’s nick that from big Jack.’ And they cut the fucker out. Can you believe it?”
Would making a reference to a DC movie in a film about a Marvel character seem weird? Maybe, but it would have ended up even weirder when you remember that Michael Keaton, who played Batman in the 1989 movie, briefly shows up as the MCU’s Vulture in a silly mid-credits scene. It would all have muddied the waters in an already bad comic book movie, which is probably why Matt Smith’s improvised Joker reference was cut from Morbius.
Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:
Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news
Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy
Let Popverse be your tour guide through the wilderness of pop culture
Sign in and let us help you find your new favorite thing.
Comments
Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.