Jared Harris says he starred in Marvel flop “Morbius” because he's 'got a mortgage to pay'

"You can't treat it as though it's Shakespeare," the actor said of Sony's ill-fated Spider-Man spinoff.

Jared Harris has no illusions about Morbius' quality.

The Mad Men and Chernobyl star recently told the British outlet i that he signed on to play a supporting role in Sony's disastrous Spider-Man spinoff for the paycheck. "I have got a mortgage to pay, you know," Harris said. "Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money."

The English actor also gave a piece of constructive criticism on how to maximize the potential of a superhero movie. "I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humour," he said. "You can't treat it as though it’s Shakespeare. So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humour."

Released in 2022, Morbius stars Harris as Dr. Emil Nicholas, a hospital director who mentors vampiric antihero Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) and his rival Milo (Matt Smith). The movie was poorly reviewed and grossed a lackluster $167 million worldwide, on a reported $75 million budget. Audiences gave it a dreadful C+ CinemaScore.

Morbius marked the third entry in Sony's ever-expanding Spider-Man-based movie universe, in which Spider-Man has yet to actually appear. The loosely connected cinematic universe kicked off with 2018's Venom and continued with the 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The Spider-universe is doubling its size this year with three entries: the maligned Madame Web, the upcoming threequel Venom: The Last Dance, and the series' first R-rated installment, Kraven the Hunter.

Related: Jared Harris, son of Dumbledore star, doesn't 'understand' Harry Potter reboot: 'Leave them alone'

While actors in Disney's separate Marvel Cinematic Universe almost never disparage that franchise, performers in the less-beloved Sony superhero movies are more likely to talk candidly about the shortcomings of their Marvel adaptations.

Shortly after Madame Web hit theaters, star Dakota Johnson explained that the film's poor reception made sense to her. "Of course it's not nice to be a part of something that's ripped to shreds, but I can't say that I don't understand," she said, noting that she's "not surprised that this has gone down the way it has."

Johnson added, "I probably will never do anything like it again because I don't make sense in that world. And I know that now. But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it's one thing and then as you're making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you're like, 'Wait, what?'"

Related: How Madame Web connects to Spider-Man

Johnson's costars also acknowledged that the film didn't connect with audiences, but spun their comments in a more supportive direction. Sydney Sweeney noted that she joined the film as a "building block" motivated by "strategic business decisions" that helped her establish a professional relationship with Sony. "I was just hired as an actor and happy to bring to life a character that my little cousins are excited about," she said. "There’s no outcome I can control on a film like that, especially when I’m not a producer. You sign up for whatever happens and you take the ride."

Meanwhile, Emma Roberts said that she personally enjoyed the movie, and blamed the internet for dismissing Madame Web before its arrival. "If it wasn't for internet culture and everything being made into a joke, I think that the reception would've been different," she said. "That's what bums me out about a lot of stuff, even stuff that I've done, is people just make such a joke out of everything now."

Related: Morbius director on Matt Smith's shirtless dancing and how Spider-Man: No Way Home changed the film

Morbius director Daniel Espinosa also said he has his own qualms with his Sony-Marvel movie. "I have a lot of self-hatred so I have a lot of criticism of my own work," he admitted. "I'm always trying to focus on being better. But I am also proud of what I do. There are parts in all of my movies that I'm really proud of."

Meanwhile, Smith took Morbius' subpar reception in stride. "Yeah, it was thrown under the bus,” the actor told Rolling Stone U.K. "But you just have to roll with it. What else are you gonna do? It's a film, at the end of the day, we’re not saving lives. For whatever reason, it didn’t quite work out and… It is what it is."

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.