One of the stars of Morbius has opened up about an improvised Batman tribute that was deleted from the movie. Matt Smith recalled ad-libbing an iconic line during filming and expressed disappointment that the moment didn’t make the final cut. The 2022 superhero action-adventure remains one of the lowest-rated Marvel movies.

Matt Smith reveals deleted Batman tribute in Morbius

In a recent interview with Josh Horowitz, Matt Smith was promoting the upcoming third season of House of the Dragon. During their conversation, the actor recalled a specific line from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie to explain his character, Daemon Targaryen’s actions in the HBO Max show.

“What’s that line? It’s Jack Nicholson. ‘Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?’” Smith said. “I got that line in Morbius, by the way. And they f—- cut it out. I improvised that line. I was like, ‘Come on, let’s nick that from Big Jack.’ And they cut the f— out.”

The quote, which the actor referred to, is one of the most memorable lines delivered by Nicholson’s Joker. In the movie, it connects him to the man who murdered Bruce Wayne’s parents.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius hit theaters in the United States on April 1, 2022. It stars Smith, Jared Leto, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson, among others.

Upon release, critics predominantly panned the movie for its lackluster story and the underwhelming performances. The majority of the audience was on the same page. As a result, the movie currently holds an approval rating of 15% from 287 critics on Rotten Tomatoes. And over 170K users on IMDb rated it an average score of 5.1/10.

Commercially, Morbius turned a profit. Made on a reported budget of $75 million, it grossed approximately $162.7 million globally. Subsequently, it arrived on PVOD sites on May 17, 2022, and began streaming on Netflix on September 7, 2022.

Meanwhile, Matt Smitt will return as Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon Season 3, which will premiere on Sunday, June 21, on HBO Max.

Originally reported by Harsha Panduranga on SuperHeroHype.