We have pondered a battle between Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman and if Thor’s hammer is more powerful than Aquaman’s trident, but what about a vampire and a vampire hunter? A confrontation between Marvel’s unique breed of bloodsucker, Morbius, and its most prestigious hunter of such beings, Blade, could be the bloodiest comic book brawl of them all.
If Micheal Keaton’s cameo in the Morbius trailer means that Jared Leto’s portrayal of the “Living Vampire” exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is not a bad chance that we may finally be able to see a live-action duel between him and Mahershala Ali’s upcoming iteration of Blade, who made his film debut in the first of a trilogy starring Wesley Snipes. The question is, between the powerful pseudo-vampire and the impeccably skilled slayer, who would be the victor?
Through deep analysis of their abilities and history of their adventures, I will conceive and propose a hypothetical scenario of Blade and Morbius crossing paths and the outcome it may lead to. Let the ultimate face-off between the prime enforcers in a war between blood and bloodsuckers begin.
Morbius, The Living Vampire
Michael Morbius is a Nobel-prize winning biochemist created by Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane. He made his Marvel comics debut in a 1971 issue of Amazing Spider-Man, which saw him secretly undergo an experimental treatment to cure his rare blood disease combining electroshock therapy with exposure to vampire bats. In a cruel twist of fate, despite the procedure saving his life, Morbius became a creature much like a vampire.
I say “much like a vampire” because Morbius does not possess all the necessary qualifications of your typical bloodsucker. While he does have snow white skin, a bat-like nose, fangs, retractable claws, airborne gliding, psychological manipulation, and of course, an insatiable thirst for human blood, the anti-hero’s transformation is purely scientific and not the result of some supernatural crossing over into a state of undead, hence “The Living Vampire.”
In addition to his enhanced strength, speed, healing factor, and nocturnal senses, Morbius is also immune to most weaknesses traditionally known to affect vampires in the supernatural sense, such as religious iconography, wooden stakes, or sunlight, despite having a sensitivity to it in his skin and eyes. In other words, Blade is going to need more than garlic if he intends to take this vamp out, which is not to say the hunter won’t prove to be a challenge for The Living Vampire either. Actually, in terms of opposition, they are the perfect match.
Blade, a.k.a. Eric Stokes Brooks
Why is Blade so good at hunting vampires? Because, partially, he is one. Born Eric Stokes Brooks in 1929 London, his mother, Vanessa, was feasted on by a vampire as she gave birth to him, causing the infant to inherit special enzymes which made him a half-human, half-vampire hybrid known as a Dhampir.
Like Morbius, Blade can… Actually, just name one of Morbius’ abilities and Blade most likely has that, too - superhuman strength and speed, acute senses, immunity to vampire bites, enhanced healing, garlic has nothing on him, etc. Not to mention, Blade also needs to ingest blood to survive, but instead injects himself with a far superior serum of which he has a vast supply. The biggest differences between the two are Blade’s darker skin and his phenomenal expertise in martial arts and vast forms of weaponry, due to his training since childhood by his foster father, American vampire hunter Jamal Afari.
Since Blade, created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, first stormed into the Marvel Universe in the early 1970s on a hunt for Dracula himself, the sword-wielding vampire slayer has been a nearly unstoppable force against blooduscking creatures of the night, thanks to his ability to think and act like his sworn enemy species. Yet, against a vampire as unique as Morbius, whose abilities parallel the hunter almost identically, does Blade have what it takes to defeat him?
Morbius Vs. Blade
While we have never seen a live action or theatrical face-off between the vampire and the hunter, it would not be the first time the characters have crossed paths. In fact, it was Morbius’ bite that endowed Blade with more traditional vampiric abilities than what his Dhampir physiology has bestowed him with since birth.
Morbius actually would have been the main antagonist of the 2002 sequel to the original Blade movie with Wesley Snipes (as a deleted alternate ending proves), if not for director Guillermo del Toro’s decision to put the character against an army of Reapers instead. The characters had a quarrel on the animated ‘90s Spider-Man series, however, and have endured an on-and-off feud for years in the comics, but based on their known skills alone, what would the outcome of a final fight to the death end up for them.
Blade is always one to come prepared with a readily accessible arsenal of his finest vampire hunting weaponry (firearms, wooden stakes, throwing knives, etc). Of course, the kinds of devices he would traditionally use against a bloodsucker will be less likely to have the same effect on a creature like Morbius, so he might need to get more creative, like setting traps or blinding him with sunlight-replicating light.
While the brightness of that light will probably take a small toll on Morbius, the guy has reflexes even the most skilled acrobats would kill for, not to mention echo-location, so evading whatever traps Blade might throw out to slow him down would not be a huge problem. Morbius has also been known to be relatively capable in combat due to his enhanced strength, speed, and stamina, despite having never received any formal training in martial arts. You know who has received training in martial arts? Blade.
Blade might fall victim to a few cuts and scrapes from Morbius' retractable claws, but otherwise, the vampire has the better chance of having his pasty, white ass handed to him once he gets into fisticuffs with the hunter. A man who has spent the majority of his life mastering everything from boxing to Jujitsu probably will not even need the help of any weapons in combat, especially with an enemy he is dedicated to the study and extermination of.
While Blade's serum does enough to keep him active in combat for a good stretch of time, Morbius has less of an advantage and if Blade can keep him busy long enough, it might bring him to a debilitating stage of his reliance on human blood. Even if he did manage to escape and run away, that is all he would ever be able to do with Blade on his trail: run, because the greatest vampire hunter in the world will never stop until Earth of ridden of this species and the fact that Morbius is only a pseudo-vampire will most likely make no difference to him.
Morbius is one hard vampire to kill, but Blade would never stop until he could figure out a way to get the job done, which is why I would have to call the vampire hunter the victor over the vampire. Do you agree with this, or do you have a theory as to how the Living Vampire could reign as the superior being? Let us know in the comments!
This poll is no longer available.
