During their chat with director Sam Raimi this week, CHUD got wind that Morbius, the living vampire, may be showing up in Raimi's upcoming, Spider-Man 4.

The long-rumored villain, touted by Marvel CEO Avi Arad, has long been The Lizard, but it seems now even more plausible that Raimi is definitely going to be attaching Morbius to the storyline. Check out CHUD for video of the director's coy response to the overall vampire question.

A little history on the character...

Morbius was created in large part because Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee wanted to launch an indirect challenge on the Comics Code Authority's ban on vampires. Working with writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane, they created Morbius, a living man who is given vampiric abilities via scientific means, and not the supernatural ones prohibited by the Code. Kane was instructed to specifically avoid Gothic fashion elements and design a costume for Morbius that was akin to what any other Marvel supervillain would wear, and he specifically chose the red and blue primary colors which were the staple of characters like Spider-Man and Superman. In part because of the success of Morbius, the Comic Code was liberalized on the subject of vampires and other horror characters several months later, allowing Marvel and other publishers to use vampires such as Count Dracula.