Morbius star Tyrese Gibson recently recalled his deleted fight scene with Matt Smith, which featured his character’s bionic arm.
While promoting his latest project, Bloodline Killer, in an interview with CBR, Gibson was asked about his role as FBI Agent Simon Stroud in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe spinoff and why the metallic arm he had in the trailer did not make the final cut. “I don’t know. The arm was in the trailer, and I definitely had to put that thing on for at least two to three hours a day in the make-up trailer, so, I don’t know,” Gibson said.
“It felt like it went from ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ to some type of issues that they had in post-production. Something. I don’t know. I definitely did a lot of scenes that was chopped out of the movie. I had a full-on fight, and brawl, with the villain, Matt Smith. I had a full-on fight scene with Matt Smith in London, where we filmed at a park, and it was crazy. And my arm was all over that scene, and they chopped that out of the movie, because I guess the presence of my arm, you wouldn’t have been able to edit around that.”
Much like his co-star Michael Keaton, Gibson was confused by the constant changes with Morbius during post-production and “definitely asked some questions” as to why his big moment was cut from the 2022 release.
“It wasn’t chopped because of the running time,” Gibson continued. Normally, you’ll lose a couple scenes because they’re trying to figure out how to squeeze it within that hour-fifty, two-hour window. But, yeah, I was very disappointed that they chopped that scene, but, you know, look. I’m a grateful man, so I don’t ever go into movies wanting to be the guy that’s number one on the call sheet. I’m in every single scene every day, so I’m grateful for whatever I end up with. But, I definitely wish that that fight scene had made the movie. It was crazy.”
The poor reception to Morbius
Based on Marvel’s Morbius the Living Vampire comics, Morbius starred Jared Leto as the titular scientist-turned-genetic vampire who clashes against his surrogate brother Milo (Smith). Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius was slammed by critics and underperformed at the box office, grossing $167 worldwide. Despite its infamous legacy, Gibson says he is open to reprising Agent Stroud in a sequel.
“I don’t know, man, I’m waiting on the call,” Gibson said. “I would be honored to dance with Daniel Espinosa and the crew again, [and] Jared Leto, yeah, I would love it. I would love it if that opportunity presented itself, yeah.”
Morbius is now streaming on Disney+.
