Following the wave of negative responses to Sony’s Morbius, actor Al Madrigal, who plays FBI Agent Albert “Al” Rodriguez in the film, has defended the film and claimed Sony ruined it in the edit.
Morbius is the latest addition to Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off universe, following in the footsteps of Tom Hardy’s Venom franchise in delivering stories about Spider-Man’s enemies in which the webhead himself never appears, presumably because he has his hands full over in the MCU right now. The film, which stars Jared Leto as scientist-turned-vampire Dr. Michael Morbius, failed to impress audiences and received a wave of negative reviews. Now, Al Madrigal has defended the film but admitted it could have been better if not for too much tinkering in post-production.
Al Mardigal’s Agent Rodriguez appears alongside Tyrese Gibson’s Agent Simon Stroud and originally featured in several scenes that were cut from the final movie. While the actor still appears in the finished film, his role had been reduced and Madrigal appears to consider Agent Rodriguez just one victim of Sony’s alterations to the final cut of the film. In a recent interview with ComicBookMovie.com, Madrigal revealed he thinks the film is getting a bad rap and talked about some of the comedic moments he almost got to bring to the film:
“First of all, Morbius: not as bad as everybody is making it out to be. Sure, it had problems and they diced it up quite a bit. I had some hilarious lines that were cut out of that movie. I was very funny [Laughs]. In London, when you shoot they do a halfway party exactly midway through the film and there’s a big blowout. Editors came up to me. A gaggle of them came up and said, ‘Oh my God, we see everything you’re doing. All the subtle stuff. All of the jokes.’ I got to improvise through that freely.”
However, Madrigal went on to discuss how his own role and Morbius as a movie overall were “butchered,” as Sony continued to “mess with” the film long after shooting:
“If they’d left in just 50% more of my stuff [Laughs]. I got butchered in that thing. I think that’s what they did. They just really…because of COVID, they just had so much time to mess with it. They really messed with it.”
Maybe a director’s cut of Morbius could save the film’s reputation, but in any case, it seems like even the film’s cast were left underwhelmed by the final cut.
Here is the synopsis for Morbius:
One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar® winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed and transforms this healer into a hunter.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa from a script written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, Morbius stars Jared Leto, Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach produced the project with Lucas Foster, with Palak Patel overseeing it for Sony.
Morbius is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news regarding Sony’s Spider-Man universe and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
Source: ComicBookMovie.com