Hunger (Marvel Comics)
The Hunger is a fictional character appearing in the American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Spider-Man #76 and was created by Howard Mackie. He is an enemy of Spider-Man, Blade, and Morbius.
Matt Smith portrays a composite character partially inspired by the Hunger named Milo, whose birth name is Lucien, in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Morbius.
Publication history
Created by Howard Mackie, the character first appeared in Spider-Man #76.Fictional character biography
Loxias Crown was an agent of Hydra equipped with armor that manipulated a mysterious energy known as darkforce. After killing the armor's creator, William Fields, Crown took Empire State University's staff and students hostage to locate Fields' notes on his armor's technology, but was defeated by Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. Crown next abducted Morbius the Living Vampire to perform experiments alongside Andrea Janson for Don Fortunato. Crown threatened Peter Parker until Todd Fields surrendered, teleporting the two youths to his secret base. But after Hammerhead killed his love and captured his three hostages, Crown took Hydra's airship to get revenge. He fought both Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. and prepared to overload the latter's armor in order to kill everyone, but Morbius attacked him and drained him dry while disappearing in the process.Crown next lived in New York City's sewers as a pseudo-vampire named the Hunger, an enforcer of Senator Stuart Ward. He abducted innocent civilians and the Morlocks' leader Callisto to his lair beneath the streets. The Daily Bugle went to investigate but the Hunger knocked Parker out and took Betty Brant hostage. Spider-Man teamed up with Marrow to free the prisoners, much to the Hunger's annoyance. Flash Thompson distracted the Hunger, resulting in his defeat by Spider-Man and Marrow, but he escaped in energy form. The Hunger later attacked a clandestine meeting between the Kingpin and the Maggia, and turned a number of gangsters into his own small horde of pseudo-vampires. Blade the Vampire-Slayer and Spider-Man tracked the Hunger down to an abandoned Roxxon plant, where the Hunger fought the two superheroes until he fled after his horde's destruction.
In Blood Hunt, Hunger is killed by Union Jack following a failed attempt to conquer Manchester.
Powers and abilities
Initially, Loxias Crown wore an armor similar to S.H.O.C. which gave him the ability to channel negative energy and fire energy blasts.As a pseudo-vampire, the Hunger does not possess all the powers of a true undead vampire, nor is he subject to all the traditional limitations and weaknesses thereof. He possesses a variety of superhuman powers, some of which are similar to true undead vampires within the Marvel Universe, such as superhuman strength, speed and durability, as well as heightened senses including night vision and echolocation. Due to his vampire-like condition, the Hunger is forced to ingest fresh blood from living humans on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality. He does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that true undead vampires are subject to, such as garlic, holy water, crucifixes, or silver. He has a strong aversion to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which allows some protection from major sunburn, in contrast to true undead vampires that are disintegrated into dust by it, with the result that he can move in daylight, but his powers are diminished and he will stick to the shade if circumstances demand him to be active during the day.