One of Marvel Comics most famous bloodsuckers returns in May.

We spoke with the writer of the story, Brendan Cahill, about the return of MORBIUS in Legion of Monsters.

TheBigBadWolf: Have you always been a fan of Morbius?

Brendan Cahill: Not in particular--I've never been much of a horror guy. But when the opportunity to write Morbius came up, I jumped on it. Vampire stories are always fun, but it's not the sort of thing I'd probably come up with on my own. So this was a nice opportunity to work in a new genre. And since Morbius isn't a "real" vampire, but a scientifically- based one, I felt that opened up the scope of what I could do with him.

TheBigBadWolf: What fascinates you the most about the character?

Brendan Cahill: Well, I think the coolest thing about Morbius is that he's a great tragic character. Unlike your run-of-the-mill vampire, Morbius knows that his bloodlust is wrong, but it continually tempts him. It would probably be better for the rest of the world (and maybe for him) if he just went away, but there's always that possibility of redemption. He embodies the sort of moral quandaries that makes for great stories.

TheBigBadWolf: Can you tell our readers what you have planned for Morbius in this issue?

Brendan Cahill: Loosely, sure. It's a short story (14 pages), so it's a relatively small, contained narrative. I used the opportunity to look at
Morbius' vampirism through the lens of addiction. His urges are wrong, and he knows they're wrong, and he knows that the second he gives in, that's when everything goes to hell. Sounds a lot like a junkie, or like me trying to quit smoking. So he has this cold-turkey mentality where he won't even allow himself to think about giving in and drinking from someone... but of course the perfect opportunity comes along--one that allows him to lie to himself and pretend that maybe it will be okay just this once. The fallout from that act, and how it affects the people around him becomes the true horror of his story.

TheBigBadWolf: Would you like to work on Morbius as an ongoing title? Are you planning on pitching that to Marvel?

Brendan Cahill: No plans in that department--this is a one-shot that Marvel editorial came to us with, not the other way around. If it came to that, sure, I feel like I could do Morbius full-time. I think he's very interesting and offers a lot of possibilities, but at the same time, it would probably be easy to allow him to slip into a one-note character. If he's always "Oh, I'm so tortured because I have to drink blood, but really I'm not a bad person..." well, you could see how that would get old. The challenge would be to keep moving him into new places, allow him to retain some equilibrium, maybe make progress, and then backslide. If I were doing something like that, I'd probably have to re-watch all the _Angel_ seasons and take note of how the masters pulled it off.



TheBigBadWolf: Does this issue take place before or after Morbius’ run in with Blade, in issue #5 of Blade?

Brendan Cahill: This story is very much stand-alone. It doesn't involve Blade in any way or make use of anything from that story. Really, this is a little slice-of-horrific-life and could be slotted in just about anywhere in the current arc of the greater Morbius story.

TheBigBadWolf: Do you see Morbius as a hero, villain, or something else?

Brendan Cahill: I see Morbius as walking that wonderful line between the two. He's played on both teams in his time and I think by his very nature that he'll never be able to commit to one or the other. In fact, this story deals with that obliquely--in the beginning, he's denying himself the blood he needs, and basically letting himself waste away to nothing. In the context of his character, that's heroic. But then, when he slips... well, he's not exactly a villain, although he does some fairly odious things. I think Morbius is a man who's been turned into a villain, trying to become a hero. What's fun about writing a character like him is you get to see how many awful things you can have him do while still retaining the reader's allegiance (or at least interest).

TheBigBadWolf: When is the release date of the book?

Brendan Cahill: It's appearing in Legion of Monsters, which is a limited series with two stories per issue, where in each issue there is one story with a "brand-name" Marvel monster, and one with a "generic" monster. Greg Land is doing the covers on all of them. This is the breakdown, as
far as I know it:

#1 (Feb):
"LoM: Werewolf by Night" by Mike Carey and Greg Land
Monster of Frankenstein by Skottie Young

#2 (Mar):
"LoM: Man-Thing" by Charlie Huston and Klaus Jansen
Zombie by Ted McKeever

#3 (Apr):
"LoM: Morbius" by Brendan Cahill and Michael Gaydos
Dracula by C.B. Cebulski and David Finch

#4 (May):
"LoM: Satanna" (don't know who the creative team is on this, or what
the second story is)

TheBigBadWolf: Thanks for taking the time Brendan. Best of luck on your Morbius story!

Talk about the Morbius Legion of Monsters Interview.