Fishing Around Ideas for Spider-Man 4

Director Sam Raimi teases fans with Morbius possibility

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

In a recent interview with FearNet.com, Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi (pictured bottom right) claimed he didn't know anything about the possibility that Spider-Man 4 would include vampire character Morbius as one of its villains, despite rumours that contridicted the statement.

"I guess they're very appealing," claimed Raimi, referring to vampires. "The best of villains have some positive qualities. That is-they can be very sexy and alluring. And the way in which they attack you is very sensual, it's almost something you desire."

Raimi, who never actually ruled out the prospect that Morbius, the Living Vampire would make an appearance in the fourth Spider-Man feature, had told Empire magazine, "I like it in the Marvel comics when Spider-Man fights Morbius," earlier this year.

"That's why I like the fact that there is a cure against them in some of the lore, like garlic or the cross," he continued with FearNet. "That's really interesting, that there is a way to stop them. There's a whole story that can be made with all those elements. So its got some real rules and laws. And that you can be turned into one of them is interesting also. Its got a lot of enticing qualities for a storyteller or an audience."

Morbius is a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who transformed himself into a supervillain with vampire abilities while attempting to cure himself of a rare blood disease. Created by Gil Kane and Roy Thomas, Morbius made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Marvel Comics) (pictured above), in October 1971.

Kane and Thomas set out to create Dr. Michael Morbius after Spider-Man creator Stan Lee asked them to, deliberately disobeying a ban of vampire characters by the Comics Code Authority. Avoiding any Gothic themes, Morbius was dressed in red and blue tights, just like his nemesis Spider-Man.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) will write the script for Spider-Man 4, which will reportedly be shot back-to-back with Spider-Man 5. Produced by Avi Arad (Spider-Man 3), Grant Curtis (Spider-Man 2) and Laura Ziskin (Spider-Man), the film will star Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, and is slated for a release in May 2011.