10 Deadliest Morbius Enemies

Morbius, the Living Vampire, is a Marvel Comics supervillain-turned-antihero that fought many iconic characters and enemies. Fans are quite excited that Jared Leto will portray Morbius in an upcoming movie. Although a trailer is already out for a while now, we still don’t know exactly which one of his enemies he’ll square off in the film.

We know that Morbius will be a part of the Sony & Marvel universe with Venom – one of the guys he both fought and worked with within the comics. Still, there’s no confirmation that the Symbiote will appear in the movie, so let’s see who else crossed paths with the Vampire in the comics. Here’s a list of the ten deadliest Morbius enemies, ordered alphabetically.

10. Basilisk

Although Wayne Gifford’s Basilisk might not be the most famous supervillain in the Marvel Universe, he’s icing for Morbius, particularly. First appearing in Morbius: The Living vampire #5 in 1993, the Basilisk represents everything Morbius hates about himself and his pseudo-vampiric condition.

Gifford was a brutally sadistic serial killer who performed a ritual that turned him into a demonic beast called the Basilisk. He enjoyed nothing more than the bloodlust he got from the transformation, while Morbius hated that part of himself the most. 

He defeated Basilisk every time they fought, but it was incredibly interesting to see the inner battle in Morbius, where the Vampire knew he had the same bloodlust in himself as the best he fought. Still, instead of embracing it, he wanted to get rid of it and be human again.

9. Blade

I still picture Blade as Wesley Snipes due to the late-90s/early-00s movie trilogy, although a new Blade movie is announced for 2022. The character first appeared in The Tomb of Dracula #10 in 1973 and is an iconic part of the horror part of Marvel’s Comic Universe.

Blade is a Vampire Hunter (despite being a day-walking vampire himself), while Morbius is a Living Vampire, so naturally, they crossed paths several times.

RELATED: Blade vs Morbius: Who Would Win in Marvel’s Fight of the Vampires?

Blade was hunting Morbius several times, while on other occasions, the two cooperated, even calling themselves friends. Morbius bites Blade once and causes the Vampire Hunter’s vampiric properties to change and mutate even further.

Seeing that Morbius’ movie comes out in late 2021 and the new Blade movie in 2022, it’s not crazy to think that perhaps the producers will tie their storylines somehow.

8. Carnage

Carnage is a Symbiote that’s somewhat of a child of another well-known Symbiote, Venom. We’ve seen how Carnage came to life in Venom 2, choosing Cletus Kassidy as his host. Carnage first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #359 in 1992.

Kassidy was already a lunatic serial killer, killing dozens before ever becoming the host of Carnage. His terrifying nature combined with the Symbiote with an affinity towards chaos, death, and, well, carnage – resulted in unseen horror, death, and destruction in NYC.

Morbius had to team up with Spider-Man, Captain America, Venom, and others to stop the Symbiote. The entire Maximum Carnage storyline was one of my favorite Marvel Universe events to date.

7. Human Torch

Human Torch is one of the founding members of the mega-popular Fantastic Four. Jonathan Storm is a human mutant, first appearing in Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. He had been exposed to incredible amounts of cosmic radiation with his friends when he was a teenager, causing his mutation and becoming the Human Torch. 

His entire body burns, while others gained different powers, creating the Fantastic Four. Human Torch and Morbius met in battle only once, but it’s enough to include the incredibly dangerous, powerful superhero on this list as Morbius’ enemy.

Jonathan Storm joined forces with Spider-Man on one occasion where Peter Parker needed help battling Morbius.

6. Lilith

Lilith is on the list of the deadliest enemies for every character she ever fought. The Mother of Demons first appeared in Ghost Rider Vol. 3 #28 in 1992 and immediately put a stamp on the Marvel Universe as one of the evilest, most notorious, powerful supervillains ever.

Lilith is an ancient entity that rules an army of demons to cause destruction, chaos, and death. Doctor Strange couldn’t fight Lilith and her entire army by himself, so he teamed up with several antiheroes, including Morbius, creating the infamous yet iconic group, the Midnight Sons.

Strange, Morbius, Blade, and others fought the demonic goddess and somewhat won, but the fight was incredibly epic and important for Morbius’ storyline.

5. Marie Laveau

I love the Marie Laveau character because it’s based on a real person. Laveau first appeared in Dracula #2 in 1973, and she was better known as the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Marie uses the powers of voodoo to conjure all sorts of spirits, including finding traces of vampirism on Earth.

Laveau wanted to preserve her life forever and stop aging, so she sought after Morbius, who had been healed of his pseudo-vampirism at the time. However, Marie trapped him and used her dark powers to return him to his bloodthirsty state, only to find that his pseudo-vampiric blood isn’t suitable for her.

She then resurrected numerous real vampires, and Morbius managed to trace the resurrections back to her while working again with Doctor Strange, and this time, Brother Voodoo.

4. Nightmare

The character Nightmare gave me nightmares for days when I first read about him as a kid. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Nightmare for Strange Tales #110 in 1963. The horrifying entity is a ruler of his realm called the Dream Dimension.

After Morbius drank blood from a drug addict, he ended up trapped in Nightmare’s realm, where he had to battle the powerful entity to get out.

Nightmare is one of the founders of the terrifying Fear Lords, and there are rumors that he could play a vital role in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If it happens, it wouldn’t be crazy to expect Morbius crossing paths with him on the big screen as well, which would be one of the deadliest encounters the Living Vampire could have in the MCU.

3. Spider-Man

This list would surely not be complete if Spidey wasn’t on this list. Not only did he and Morbius battle numerous times, but the Living Vampire’s introduction into the Marvel Universe came in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 in 1971.

Morbius presented his power right away, smacking Spidey hard before escaping the location. Parker did win a few of their fights, but usually with help. On other occasions, Morbius nearly killed Spider-Man. One time, the only thing that saved Spidey after Morbius knocked him down was a lightning bolt that struck the Vampire just as he was going in for the finish.

RELATED: Morbius Vs. Spider-Man: Who Would Win and Why?

They worked together almost as often as they fought, and the fact that Spidey was Morbius’ first enemy, he’s not only one of the ten deadliest but also the most iconic Morbius enemies ever.

2. Venom

Venom is yet another Symbiote to cross paths with the Living Vampire. In the comics, Venom’s first appearance came in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 in 1988, but his encounter with Morbius came a bit later. They only fight one-on-one once, but it was enough, even for the powerful Symbiote, to acknowledge the incredible strength Morbius has.

That moment is one of the biggest testaments to how powerful Morbius is when at his best. Although they didn’t fight that often in the comics, it wouldn’t be crazy to think Venom will have a big part in Morbius’ storyline, especially after the producers had confirmed that the two are a part of the same Sony & Marvel Cinematic Universe.

1. Vic Slaughter

Last but not least, if there’s an enemy that we could call Morbius’ arch-nemesis, it would probably be Vic Slaughter. The character’s first appearance came in Morbius: The Living Vampire #6 in 1992, and it was awesome right from the start.

Slaughter was an ex-marine who became a mercenary, hired to hunt down and kill Morbius, using all means necessary. He underestimated the Living Vampire, though, as he bit and drained him of blood, turning Vic into a crazed, vengeful vampire.

He made killing Morbius his life mission, and he would reappear numerous times to try and slaughter the Living Vampire – pun intended. If the movie plays into the vampiric/horror narrative more, Vic Slaughter makes perfect sense to appear as Morbius’ enemy.