Jared Leto confirms that he's open to reprising his role as Morbius and Joker. Morbius was released earlier this year to poor reviews from both audiences and critics, bringing Leto's titular Dr. Michael Morbius to life on the big screen for the first time. In addition to failing critically, the film was also a disappointment financially, earning only $164 million on a production budget estimated to be $75 million. Morbius has since garnered popularity online in meme form, which led to Sony re-releasing it only for it to flop again.
Morbius wasn't the first time Leto has played a comic book villain, however, with the actor also previously appearing in 2016's Suicide Squad. Like Morbius, the film was universally panned by critics, but it did perform far better at the box office, earning over $746 million. Leto's performance proved controversial among fans, but the actor did reprise the role for a cameo in Zack Snyder's Justice League, finally giving him an opportunity to come face-to-face with Ben Affleck's Batman in one of Snyder's fan-favorite "Knightmare" sequences.
In a new interview with The Playlist, Leto reveals that he's still open to returning as both Morbius and the Joker in future movies. Although not elaborating too much on whether he thinks this is a real possibility, Leto is clearly not ready to say that he's definitively done playing either of his comic book antiheroes just yet. When asked if he'd return, Leto has a simple and suitably coy response:
"Well, as the old thing goes, never say never."
Despite an almost universally negative response from critics, many fans do seem to enjoy Leto's committed performances as Morbius and the Joker. The actor is famously very "method" in his approach to acting, with one report around the time of Morbius' release revealing that the actor used crutches to get around on set, which resulted in prolonged bathroom breaks. It's unlikely that Morbius will get a sequel considering it has now underperformed twice at the box office, but, if Leto is to return to the role, it's likely it would be for a Sony villain team-up somewhere down the line.
It remains to be seen whether Leto will get the opportunity to reprise his role as either Morbius or Joker, but the actor is clearly not ready to rule anything out just yet. Considering Snyder's DC Universe has confirmed to no longer be in development at DC, Morbius is likely the only character of the two that still has a chance at a comeback. Unlike Leto's Joker, Morbius continues to live on in meme form online, making a comeback for the character not totally out of the question. After all, Leto himself has joined in on the Morbius jokes, even posting a picture of himself reading a joke script for the sequel. While it's unclear what Leto's comic book movie future is, it's clear that, at the very least, he hasn't given up hope.
Source: The Playlist
