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Don’t ask Tyrese Gibson about anything that’s not Morbius right now. The actor is no stranger to being a part of huge movie titles (he has been in the Fast & Furious franchise since the start), but joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time has Gibson grinning from ear to ear. The Baby Boy star plays FBI Agent Simon Stroud in the film, who is chasing after the antihero, Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto). After suffering from a rare blood disease that prevents his body from creating blood, the doctor tries to find a cure for his illness through illegal experiments with bats and ends up turning himself into a life-threatening and dangerous vampire.
Morbius, directed by Daniel Espinosa, was among the many films that were delayed throughout the pandemic and that meant the actors had to remain tight-lipped about the movie for longer. Any Marvel fan will tell you that actors like Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo have slipped up once or twice with spoilers, but Gibson has made it his mission to not be one of them. The actor says he has undergone extensive media training to be a part of the MCU, and honestly? It worked.
It takes skill to be able to dodge tricky and potentially revealing questions. During a conversation with Complex, Gibson made sure to show us just how good he is at deflecting, and even when we put him to the test, he passed every time with flying colors. He asked us to ask him if Morbius was in the MCU. “I’m hungry, man. I’m so hungry. I’m sorry,” the actor responded, looking away from the camera. “I just realized I didn’t even eat this morning.” Gibson is keeping his lips sealed about Morbius and future projects, but he’s not holding back his excitement for this film and expressing how proud he is of the cast. “I cannot wait for the world to see it. So excited,” Gibson told Complex. “And y’all can look up my previous interviews. You don’t hear me saying this type of shit.” We caught up with the multitalented star ahead of the film’s release, which hit theaters on April 1. Check out our conversation with the actor, which we lightly edited for length and clarity, below.
I watched Morbius yesterday. Congratulations on the movie. How are you feeling?
I feel great. I watched the movie yesterday, too, for the first time. I know people get paid to say good things about the movie, whether they actually like it or not. Man, let me tell you something. I did not remember that I had to pee. The movie started and I was like, “Damn, man, the movie just started. I got to pee.” That shit went away, man. I did not go to the bathroom until the movie was over. It was unbelievable. I could not believe it, from start to finish. Oh my God, man. Daniel Espinosa, the director. There is no way his last film was Safe House with Denzel Washington. He went from Safe House to directing Morbius? What he and Jared Leto put on film… History.
I happen to be a person that’s lucky enough and blessed enough to sometimes sit on the front row of my own life. I can’t believe my life. Whether I got five minutes or 45 minutes in the movie, it doesn’t matter. I’m sitting there and I’m just so grateful. I cannot believe I’m a part of the Marvel Comics Universe, the MCU. I didn’t come into the MCU the way everybody else came into the MCU. I came in with Spidey on the back. I came in via the Spidey universe.
You filmed this movie years ago, but because of the pandemic, there have been delays. How does it feel knowing that people are finally going to be able to watch this?
That’s the thing. Film critics, go sit down. Go sit down. Do you understand how happy we are to be able to go to a freaking movie theater right now? I was in the theater yesterday with no mask on, vaccinated, and sitting there happy. I had grease on the side of my mouth, man. I was up in there.
I’ve never seen the movie. Oh, man. It was so great. I’m so proud of everybody in this cast. Matt Smith, Al Madrigal. Adria [Arjona]. Amazing. You see I’m rolling my R’s?
You have to. Your partner is also Agent Rodriguez (Al Madrigal). When he said his last name, I was like, ‘That’s my cousin!’
Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. Hey, proudly, I’m a Blaxican. In Furious 7, I told everybody I was a Blarab—a Black Arab. And now I’m letting y’all know I’m a Blaxican. My partner’s last name is Rodriguez in Morbius. Every scene we did, we were like, “Yeah!” I was touching his shoulder. He was sitting in front of me. I was like, “We did it, baby!” I’m so excited.
In superhero movies, you always have FBI agents or police officers but something about Agent Stroud stood out to me. What was your favorite aspect of playing him?
Well, here’s the thing. I think they really set me up for the sequel. And I say that loosely. I say that loosely. I could have easily gone above and beyond to really try and hurt Morbius. Because he did a couple of really bad things and hurting him or trying to get rid of him was justified. But something in me didn’t want to hurt him, didn’t really want to take him out, because when I was in Afghanistan, he gave me some blood that saved my life while I was in the middle of the war. And so what did I look like hurting him when he stopped me from being hurt? So now I’m going to be in Morbius 2.
There was a backstory to the character. You’re not just an FBI agent. There’s more to it.
You caught that! You caught that. I’m complex.
There was also a fight scene (with Leto) in the lobby. It was short, but it was good. There was a lot going on. What was it like preparing for that scene?
Nerve-wracking. It was nerve-wracking. For the acting community, Jared Leto is what they call a method actor. So he gets all the way in character and he stays in character for the duration of the movie. You don’t walk up to him in between takes with the small talk. He’s fully, fully in character. Some people look at that as extreme, but after seeing what I just seen, I’m not talking to nobody on my next movie. You get to really lock in.
What did you learn the most from Jared? Aside from not talking to people.
No, no, no. I was just playing. I was being facetious. He definitely talked. He definitely was a good guy. But he was in his zone, man, and you just got to respect it. He’s not the first person I’ve ever worked with that’s a method actor, so I was prepared, but it just shows you like, “Yo, man, it’s game time.” I don’t think you get to talk to Kobe and Michael Jordan that often. They’re in their zone. You’re either going to come to practice or you’re going to be ready to dance. It’s time to dance. Or you’re going to just look at my greatness from the sideline.
He brought a level of intensity and seriousness. Because, unfortunately, a lot of us get paid a lot of money regardless if you’re actually worth it or not. A lot of people make a lot of money in these movies. To see somebody taking this shit that seriously, man. It brought a level of intensity and seriousness to me and just made us all like, “Man, we over here working with Jordan, baby. We got to go."
Everybody involved was really acting, acting.
He went crazy, man. Listen, man. Jared Leto is a real guy. I’m telling y’all. They paid me nice. You know what I’m saying? They can’t pay me to have an opinion on a movie even if I’m in it. If I ain’t rocking with it, I’m going to be like, “Yo, just don’t ask me those types of questions." We would’ve had the publicist call you and say, “Don’t ask him about this. Don’t ask him about that.” Because I ain’t got nothing good to say. Morbius, from start to finish, was incredible. I’m talking about it as a fan of Marvel movies. I got my moments in the film, but that’s not the reason I love the movie, man. I watched that shit as a real fan and I was like, “Yo, man, this is amazing.” I was there with my family. I didn’t have a mask on. I had my butter popcorn. The music was so loud. You try and lean over and say something to your girl, and then some shit goes on the movie. I jumped a couple of times.
I watched an interview and you said Daniel Espinosa brought something out of all the actors. What do you think he brought out of you specifically?
Daniel Espinosa is a true artist. I mean, this man lives in Spain. He’s out there. He’s like, “Yo, man, I don’t do all the Hollywood shit, man. I live out here. With my family.” He’s like, “I get to go to restaurants in my community and see the same people every day. There are no cameras. There’s no paparazzi.” He just wants to be a regular guy and focused on the art. And it shows. Because sometimes when you’re out here and you’re in Hollywood and you want to be at every party and every club and every event, you get bombarded with all these thoughts and opinions and all of the shit and it takes you away from focusing on the craft. Daniel Espinosa is a true artist. I mean, the fact that he still has a ponytail on his head in 2022 tells you everything.
He’s far removed from what is current.
Don’t talk to Daniel Espinosa about a haircut. Don’t talk to him about a haircut. He’s an artist. He’s a real guy. When he’s on the set, he’s got all the screens and monitors in front of him and he’s watching everything and every move. Even if they got people shooting in a different location, he’s watching everything. Protecting every frame of this movie. It is true beauty and the manifestation of beauty. Every frame of this movie.
What does it feel like for you as a Marvel fan to now say, ‘Hey, I was in one of these movies’?
You’re talking about this movie right here? Hold on, let me move this [movie poster] over. You see that? What does that say? “A new Marvel legend arrives.” They didn’t say, “A new legend from the Spidey-Verse.” They made me sign like, 10 pages of NDAs, man. They locked us down, man. We couldn’t say nothing. I’m like, man, this is a mafia. They got us so locked down. You can’t say nothing about nothing.
They had us sign like 15 pages of NDAs. We could not talk about anything. So let me just give you a sense of my media training around the confidentiality around Morbius. Now, keep in mind. I was not allowed to be on set on the days that I wasn’t filming. We could not see anything. So when I watched the movie last night, I’m sitting there like, “Holy shit. Look at this movie.” They trained me to deflect it and disown it and just get away from the questions. The lockdown levels was real. I was like, "Yo, man, this Marvel comics thing is serious."
There’s a whole compilation of actors accidentally revealing secrets in interviews, but you learned.
I slipped up once. Once. But I will say it wasn’t quite a slip-up. I have to defend myself because what we lack in this town is accountability. If you make a mistake, apologize. It’s OK. It’s called being a human. But my arm was in the trailer. When I’m standing there and I got the blue shirt on with the vest. I talked about the arm and it was the 4th of July for at least two weeks. I was like, “Yo man. Listen, man. The next time anybody even says a word that has the letter ‘m’ in it, I’m going to look the other way.”
It’s serious. I don’t know if y’all understand the pressure, but guess what? I will say this. After watching this movie—and they paid me a lot, but they can’t pay for my opinion—after watching this movie, I understand why they had the shit locked down like that. I get it. Oh my.
Your IMDB page is stacked with projects that are coming up. What can fans of Tyrese the actor expect for you after Morbius?
I’m so excited about Morbius right now. I can’t talk about nothing else. And that ain’t got nothing to do with the paperwork I signed. I just saw Morbius last night for the first time from top to bottom and I’m just not over it.
That one shot of you on the roof when you’re holding the gun that is my favorite scene of yours.
Wait, holding a gun? I don’t know what you’re talking about.
You got me.
Yeah! See? That’s called media training.
Morbius is now playing in a theater near you.