Hunger (Marvel Comics)

Loxias Crown, otherwise known as Hunger, is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Spider-Man vol. 1 #76 (January 1997) and was created by Howard Mackie.

Matt Smith will portray the character in the live-action film Morbius which is part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

Publication history[]

Created by Howard Mackie, the character first appeared in Spider-Man vol. 1 #76 (January 1997).

Fictional character biography[]

Loxias Crown was a Hydra agent who tracked down William Fields, a scientist at Empire State University (ESU). Arriving at Fields's home on Christmas Eve, Crown slew Fields but let his wife and child escape. Young Todd Fields swore revenge on Crown.^[1]

Crown abducted Morbius, the Living Vampire to perform experiments on him. He also tried to take Aiken and fellow ESU students Peter Parker and Abby Levin. With a group of Hydra storm troopers, Crown threatened to kill Parker unless Aiken came with him. He teleported Parker and his friend to his secret base.^[2]

However, Hammerhead killed his love, so Crown took a Hydra airship to his apartment building to get revenge on the gangsters. He took SHOC and prepared to overload his armor, killing them all. He blew Hammerhead away with his darkforce energy and began to destroy the building. He also took down both SHOC and Spider-Man, but, before he could finish, Morbius attacked him. As the building was destroyed around them, Morbius drained Crown dry, disappearing with his victim in the process.^[3]

Hunger[]

Now a "Living Vampire" he began living in the sewers beneath the city. He abducted citizens and kept them in his lair beneath the streets. He even took some of the Morlocks, including their leader, Callisto. Peter Parker and Betty Brant from the Daily Bugle went to investigate the disappearances. However, Hunger knocked Peter out and took Betty with him. Now as Spider-Man, Peter Parker teamed up with Marrow to hunt down Hunger. They freed the prisoners, much to Hunger's annoyance. As he was about to bite Spider-Man, Flash Thompson attacked from behind, saving him. He then tried to attack Marrow, but Spider-Man freed her, allowing him to escape in energy form.^[4]

Hunger returned and attacked the Kingpin during a clandestine meeting with the Maggia. He set the building alight, but Kingpin was able to escape. He turned a number of them into living vampires, like himself, building his own small army. Blade and Spider-Man tracked Hunger down to an abandoned Roxxon plant, killing vampire gangsters. He summoned the heroes to his lair to replenish his vampire army. They defeated the last of his horde and Hunger fled.^[5]

Powers and abilities[]

He was transformed by Morbius into a "Living Vampire" a kind of pseudo-vampire. He does not possess all the powers of a supernatural 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 supernatural vampires within the Marvel Universe, such as superhuman strength and speed, as well as heightened senses including night vision and echolocation.^[5]

Due to his vampire-like condition, Hunger is forced to ingest fresh blood on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality.^[4]

He does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that supernatural 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" vampires that are incinerated 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.^[4]

In other media[]

Film[]

• Loxias Crown is set to appear as the main antagonist in Sony Pictures' film, Morbius, portrayed by Matt Smith.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• Loxias Crown at Marvel Wiki
• Hunger at marvel.com