It is safe to say that Sony and Marvel’s Morbius has enjoyed a healthy amount of excitement and anticipation since the screenshots and trailers began rolling in. The film is set to star Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a genius who turns himself into a living vampire while attempting to cure a rare disease he was inflicted with.
What makes this film so interesting is the protagonist began as an antagonist of longtime Marvel hero Spider-Man. Yet Morbius has a long history of attempting to be a hero and vigilante himself. Here are ten villains who could appear in the film.
10 Vic Slaughter
The first villain that has a chance of appearing in one form or another in the upcoming film is Vic Slaughter. An ex-marine who became an assassin, Vic was hired by agent Simon Stroud to hunt down and take out Morbius. However, in their first encounter, Vic would be defeated by Morbius.
In the attack, Morbius would bite Vic, and later the assassin would turn into a psychotic vampire obsessed with taking down Morbius. He would take on the living vampire many times, including while Morbius teamed up with the Nightstalkers and other supernatural teams, and at one point even Spider-Man.
9 Marie Laveau
In the many travels of Morbius after his transformation, he has come across some memorable and iconic vampire and supernatural foes. While Dracula was a common enough enemy to face throughout the years, the one that really stuck out the most was the all powerful Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau.
Morbius encountered Marie Laveau while working with Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo. While working with them, they witnessed the return of what was known as “true” vampires, and learned that the powerful Voodoo Queen herself was responsible for the resurrections. This villain would be interesting to tie Doctor Strange and introduce Brother Voodoo to Morbius.
8 Bloodbath
An interesting villain that would be great to see in Morbius the Living Vampire’s film or possible sequels is Bloodbath. Real name Mordechai, Bloodbath is the son of a famed Soviet Union Blood Specialist. The villain’s mother passed away during childbirth, and he inherited his mother’s rare blood disorder.
The disorder produced a physical reaction, transforming him into a skeletal figure and producing large tusk-like fangs on his body. After moving to the United States to find a cure, his father built him a suit to try to control the transformation, but Bloodbath ended his father and became the Subway Vampire Killer, framing Morbius.
7 Doctor Paine
A truly interesting villain that has impacted both Morbius and the other Sony and Marvel owned villain with his own film franchise, Venom, would be Doctor Paine. Otherwise known as Doctor Thaddeus Paine, the brilliant surgeon was a sad victim of a freak accident that doused him in an experimental anesthetic, removing his ability to feel pain or pleasure.
Driven mad by the loss of any sensation, the surgeon became a villain known as Doctor Paine, obsessed with medical abnormalities and went so far as to kidnap, torture and end the lives of patients. Morbius was once abducted by the villain’s minions.
6 Demogoblin
A truly unique villain to include would be Jason Macendale, aka the second Hobgoblin, who’s dealing with a demon known as N’astirh would lead to Doctor Strange separating the demon from the villain and creating the entity known as the Demogoblin.
The Demogoblin would go on to become a powerful force of nature, fighting the likes of Spider-Man, Morbius and Venom. That is what would be the ultimate tie into the larger Marvel universe Sony is creating, as Demogoblin was fought by both Venom and Morbius in San Francisco during the Venom storyline “Enemy Within”, which saw goblins infesting the city.
5 Carnage
One villain that has already been established in the Venom film and could serve as a great cameo to build hype for the upcoming Venom 2 film is Cletus Kassidy, aka Carnage. The psychotic serial killer turned Spider-Man villain is one of the most dangerous foes in the Marvel Universe, rivaling DC Comic’s own Joker for chaos and anarchy.
In the classic event Maximum Carnage, Morbius teamed up with Spider-Man, Venom, Captain America, Black Cat and several other heroes to battle Carnage as he and his “symbiote family” caused untold bloodshed, horror, and violence in New York City.
4 Blackout
One truly dangerous foe that Morbius could face in the future would be Blackout, the demonic/human hybrid creature who can create light-canceling darkness fields and also possesses vampire-like abilities. Its body has also been enhanced to have metal fangs and claws, giving it an edge in battle.
There is not much known about the villain’s past. He developed a rivalry with Ghost Rider, having taken the life of Dan Ketch’s sister, and met Morbius while serving Lilith and fighting by her side against the Midnight Sons, a supernatural team led by Doctor Strange and including Morbius, Blade, and others.
3 Basilisk
If one villain represented the antithesis of everything Morbius hated about himself and his monstrous transformation into a living vampire, it would be Basilisk, the demonic monster inhabiting the body of serial killer Wayne Gifford. Tired of his human life, the serial killer performed a ritual that transformed him into the beast known as Basilisk.
Morbius ran into the beast twice, defeating it both times. Morbius saw in the creature a being who enjoyed being a monster and the bloodlust it brought, while Michael was busy fighting that bloodlust in himself and seeking a way to become human once more.
2 Lilith
There have been two villains with the name of this next villain, but the one to focus on here would be Lilith, the Mother of Demons. The ancient demonic entity is a force of chaos and destruction and is the reason Doctor Strange recruited Morbius and the other supernatural creatures to fight Lilith and her army.
Creating the Midnight Sons, Doctor Strange led Blade, Morbius, Hannibal King, and others into battle against the very powerful demon. She is technically a goddess, her origins able to be traced back all the way to Pre-Sumerian times, making her one of Morbius’s oldest enemies.
1 Nightmare
The most powerful enemy that Morbius could face if they were to tie his film franchise into the MCU at all would be Nightmare. Rumored to be appearing in the MCU and possibly facing either Scarlet Witch or Doctor Strange, Nightmare is the ruler of the Dream Dimension, and one of the co-founders of the Fear Lords.
Morbius entered Nightmare’s realm and faced him in battle after drinking the rotten blood of an addict. If Nightmare becomes a major part of the MCU’s Phase 4 plans and the MCU begins introducing Morbius’s world into their own, Nightmare would be a great villain to tie the two together.