The Biggest Differences Between Morbius And Venom Explained

You may not know it at first glance, but it's not hard to list the things Venom and Morbius have in common. They're both fanged Spider-Man villains who've fought on both sides of the law, and they both have some unusual appetites: Morbius, being a living vampire, struggles with the desire to consume blood, while Venom sometimes gets a mean hankering for consuming humans in general. They're both villains who've graced cinema screens in their own solo features, proving that giving Spider-Man a hard time isn't necessarily an obstacle when it comes to headlining movies ... although they've also teamed up with the Wallcrawler (and even each other) on a number of occasions. They've even both acted as guardians to underground societies — well, several, in Morbius' case.

Despite all this, however, there's a lot setting these two apart from each other, as well. Sharpen those fangs and wipe that green drool off your lip as we explore just what makes Morbius and Venom so different.

Despite being immune to many of the weaknesses of normal vampires, Morbius isn't completely safe from the kinds of things that give his supernatural brethren a headache. Sunlight maybe not be immediately lethal to him, for instance, but he is allergic to it, meaning it causes him great discomfort and can severely affect him if he's exposed to it for too many days. Similarly, his reflection can be seen on reflective surfaces, robbing him of the kind of subterfuge supernatural vampires enjoy (as does Venom, who can turn invisible). What's more, sharp metal objects and stakes through the heart are as likely to kill Morbius as they would any normal human — he's only slightly more durable than we are, especially when he hasn't feasted for a while.

Normal sunlight may not hurt Venom, but that doesn't mean the symbiote is heat-friendly, as fire is one of its major weaknesses. Venom is also extremely sensitive to sonic vibrations, including at levels that wouldn't really hurt Morbius, like the gong of a large bell. In small quantities, neither weakness would necessarily kill the symbiote, but they can cause it to separate from its host, robbing that individual of the protection from harm that the symbiote provides. 

Since his introduction, Michael Morbius has been generally portrayed as a tortured soul. At his most starved, Morbius struggles to remember his humanity and sense of ethics and often behaves nefariously, but his human side constantly fights to keep his vampiric tendencies at bay. Furthermore, unlike Venom, Michael has never had delusions regarding the wrongfulness of his actions when not in control. That said, he can at times be condescending even in his better moments, and he's not always above manipulating others when trying to cure himself, as seen when he uses the Moon Stone to force John Jameson into doing his bidding as the Man-Wolf in "Giant-Size Super-Heroes Featuring Spider-Man" #1. Morbius also sometimes make poor decisions to help others, such as in "Spider-Man Family" #5, in which he uses the Vaal Talisman to steal Doctor Strange's powers so he can attempt to cure a close friend of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Venom, on the other hand, is more morally complicated. The symbiote tends to adapt to the morality of the host, but it can also warp their values. This is most evident in Eddie Brock, who in his early days as Venom is determined to kill Spider-Man, yet otherwise behaves in ways that are broadly heroic. Still, Brock clearly revels in cruelty as Venom in those days (though he later reforms), as does Mac Gargan, the Scorpion, when he becomes the host.

Don't get us wrong, Morbius has his fans. Being complex and often sympathetic, it's hard not to root for Michael at times, even when he's fighting heroes like Spider-Man. Furthermore, the popularity of his initial appearances resulted in his solo adventures being added as one of the main features of Marvel Comics' "Vampire Tales" when the series launched in 1973. As the first issue explains in its "Blood is Thicker..." text piece, "Each time this 20th century vampire has appeared in print, so great has been the outcry to give him his own magazine that finally nothing was to be done but to grant him a place of honor in this premiere issue of VAMPIRE TALES."

Venom, however, is so popular he helped define an entire decade in comics. Along with characters like Cable, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and the Punisher, Venom was one of the major faces, figuratively and literally, of Marvel's trend toward grim and gritty anti-heroes in the 1990s. At one time, it was hard to find a comic that didn't feature Venom as a guest star, to say nothing of the tongue-wagging symbiote's own numerous mini-series. Even today, Venom can still draw in big numbers — the first issue of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's "Venom" series was the estimated seventh-best selling comic of 2018, while their last issue, #35 (in which they're joined by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and a host of artists), was the estimated fifth-best selling issue of 2021.

2022's "Morbius" is the first time the Living Vampire has starred in his own film. It also would have been his first live-action movie appearance period, had he not briefly shown up in an alternate, deleted ending to 1998's "Blade." On-screen sightings are still sadly few for Morbius, even in the realm of animation, where he's only been in "Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six" and, perhaps most famously, "Spider-Man: The Animated Series," which notably added suction cups to the character's hands. Interestingly, Morbius has made the most on-screen appearances in video games, both as a playable character in titles like "Marvel Avengers Alliance" and an important NPC in games like "Marvel's Spider-Man."

Meanwhile, the limelight seems to love Venom. In addition to his solo movie and its sequel, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," the symbiote and its most famous host, Eddie Brock, made a cameo appearance in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and was a featured villain in the third installment of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, played by Topher Grace. Venom is also all over animation, though not always with Eddie — the "Ultimate Spider-Man" cartoon, for example, features the Venom symbiote alternating between various people, including major host Flash Thompson, while "Avengers Assemble" has the symbiote select none other than Dracula as its fittingly toothy other. And while video games have been a welcoming medium for Morbius, they've been even more welcoming to Venom, with 2023's "Marvel's Spider-Man 2" looking to continue the trend.

Though often portrayed as solo adventurers, it's not uncommon for Morbius and Venom to join super-teams. They don't usually join the same groups, however (with some exceptions, e.g. Spider-Man's ragtag anti-Carnage team in "Maximum Carnage"), with the best example being Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. Several of Venom's hosts have signed onto the Avengers' ranks, though often with a catch: Spider-Man, for example, becomes an Avengers member long after he stops wearing the symbiote, while Mac Gargan, who is Venom when he signs onto the Avengers, is part of Norman Osborn's now-defunct villainous version of the team, the Dark Avengers. Flash Thompson, meanwhile, does join a heroic Avengers team while bonded to the Venom symbiote, but even that has a caveat, as Flash becomes a part of Hawkeye's Secret Avengers team rather than the main group.

Morbius hasn't been on any iteration of the Avengers — though to be fair to the team, Morbius has a major obstacle standing in his way, namely his bloodlust, which has been known to consume him to the point where even consuming plasma non-lethally isn't enough to stop him from sinking his fangs into someone's neck. While Morbius has proven he can be a dependable teammate in groups like A.R.M.O.R. and the Legion of Monsters, the Avengers may not be willing to put themselves and the people they're protecting at risk. The Venom symbiote has admittedly had similar appetites (more akin to cannibalism) but not as consistently.

When it comes to Venom, duality is everything. Originally, the Venom symbiote requires bonding with another living creature to ensure its very survival, like all members of its kind. At times it has grown so desperate to stay with a host that it can be quite vindictive if rejected. When Spider-Man forgoes the symbiote, for example, it angrily conspires against the Webcrawler by bonding with Eddie Brock, who has his own mad-on for Peter. It has also manipulated Eddie psychologically in a number of ways over the years to ensure they stay bonded, and at one point even becomes so connected to Brock that separation becomes borderline lethal for Eddie ... or would be, had Brock's time with the symbiote had not made him more tolerant to that level of agony. While the symbiote no longer needs a host to live, it still prefers company, and maintains a strong bond (in the emotional sense) to Eddie and its modern-day host, Dylan.

That's not really the case with Morbius. While he has made strong bonds with people over the years, including his former fiancée Martine Bancroft and friends like Max Modell and Becky Barnes, Morbius most often goes it alone, in part because he fears hurting his loved ones when his desire to suck the blood from others becomes too great. Similarly, no one else deals with the unique form of Morbius' vampirism, making it difficult for him to relate to others.