Matt Smith says he did ‘Morbius’ because Karen Gillan told him to

Matt Smith has had a terrific career since leaving Doctor Who, the show that made his name, in 2013, having starred in everything from Netflix’s The Crown to Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho. But it’s taken until now for the British actor to enter the superhero movie world. Smith is set to feature in Sony’s incoming Morbius as the villain of the piece, appearing opposite Jared Leto as the titular Living Vampire.

So what made Smith decide to finally hop onto the Marvel bandwagon? It turns out it was his former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan, who’s nowadays most known for playing Nebula in the MCU. Smith told Digital Spy that, once he was offered the Morbius gig, he gave Gillan a call to ask about her experience of making comic book films. Gillan was full of praise for the process and encouraged him to take the job. As the actor recalled:

“I phoned Karen and said, ‘What’s it like? Have you had a nice time?’ and she’s like, ‘Yeah, go for it, do it’. So I did. Good old Kaz. I mean, she’s a seasoned pro, she’s made about 9 of them.”

The man is right that Gillan — who played Amy Pond opposite his Eleventh Doctor on Who from 2010-13 — is an expert on Marvel filmmaking. That said, Smith is slightly overestimating her experience. To date, Gillan has featured in four MCU movies that have been released, the first two Guardians of the Galaxy flicks and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and two more that are on their way i.e. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder.

Elsewhere, Smith has said that the involvement of director Daniel Espinosa and the cool power-set of his character were what appealed to him about the project. Hopefully, he’s not regretting his involvement in it, though, as the star’s also admitted that even he’s confused about his own character’s backstory and motivations.

Don’t miss Morbius when it finally makes its way to theaters, after countless delays, this Friday, April 1.

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