Dr. Michael Morbius is a scientist from Marvel comic books and movies. Also known as Morbius, the Living Vampire, he first appeared as an enemy of Spider-Man in the comics in 1971 and is the main character of a superhero film released this year.
Morbius was born in Greece and had a rare, serious blood disease since his childhood. As a boy, he was academically gifted, and later, he obtained a medical degree and worked in hematology. He won a Nobel Prize for his work in biochemistry. Morbius attempted to cure his blood disease himself, using an experimental treatment involving vampire bat DNA. This treatment, however, had a major side effect: It turned Morbius into a pseudo-vampire, who is tortured by a thirst for blood and whose face has bat-like features. He also gained super-speed, super-strength, and accelerated healing as well as night vision and an echolocation ability.
Due to his need to consume human blood, Morbius usually acts as a villain in comic book stories. However, he is also shown to struggle with the moral implications of his thirst and was sometimes depicted as a tragic anti-hero and vigilante, saving innocent people and killing criminals.
Sources
- Michael Morbius (Earth-616), marvel.fandom.com. (accessed April 4, 2022)
- Morbius (film), marvel-movies.fandom.com. (accessed April 4, 2022)
- Morbius, directed by Daniel Espinosa, Sony Pictures, 2022.
Also of Interest
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https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.202200012
The hypothetical science behind the transformation of Bruce Banner and his cousin into green superheroes - The Molecular Marvels of Thor,
Yann Brouillette, William D. Lubell,
ChemistryViews 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.201900070
The top five chemical components of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir - The Molecular Marvels of Captain America,
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https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.201800111
The hypothetical (bio-)chemistry behind the transformation of a frail soldier into a comic book superhero - Collection: Chemistry & Cinema
A compilation of articles on chemistry in the movies
