Michael Corvin in Underworld: Who He Is, Who Plays Him and What Happens to Him

Michael Corvin is the human medical resident at the center of Underworld (2003), and the reason the long war between vampires and Lycans (werewolves) turns personal for Selene. The film was directed by Len Wiseman and released in the US on September 19, 2003. Selene is a vampire Death Dealer who hunts Lycans, and she notices that they are following Michael. She starts to investigate why a human doctor matters so much to them, and that curiosity puts her at odds with Kraven, the vampire leading the coven while the elders sleep.

Scott Speedman plays Michael, billed second behind Kate Beckinsale in both Underworld (2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006). He begins as a man with a medical job, which makes him the audience's way into the rules of this world.

Michael is credited in four of the five films: Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution, Underworld: Awakening and Underworld: Blood Wars. In Awakening and Blood Wars his credit sits further down the cast list, below the top 15 billed names, which is easy to miss. His hybrid form in the credits is listed as Hybrid Michael (uncredited). He is absent from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, a prequel set centuries before the original film. In Underworld: Blood Wars his fate is revealed through Selene's borrowed memories. For the wider ensemble, see the Underworld characters page, and for the people behind them, the Underworld cast page.

Michael's central relationship is with Selene, the vampire who follows him to learn why the Lycans are tracking him, and who then protects him. She breaks the coven's rules for him in Underworld (2003), and in Evolution the two grow closer while they hide and search for the meaning of Marcus's pendant. Selene is also the mother of Eve, the hybrid daughter she meets in Awakening, and once Eve is safe the group vows to find Michael. Eve is the link between the original pair and the later films, and Eve has her own page.

Michael's enemies shape him more than his allies do. Lucian, the Lycan leader, bites him in the first film, which starts the change. Viktor, the vampire elder, dies at Selene's hands in that same film. So, was Viktor stronger than Michael? The films never test it. The hybrid Michael of Evolution goes on to kill William, a creature as old as Marcus.

The Corvinus name ties Michael to the elders. Singe says he descends from a common ancestor of both races, and Evolution fills in the family tree: Alexander Corvinus was the first immortal, and Marcus, William and a third brother were his sons. Marcus is the elder who impales Michael in Evolution. For the wider family story, see the Corvinus bloodline page and the guide to Underworld vampires and Lycans.

In my opinion, Michael's best moment is the end of Evolution, when he wakes in full hybrid form after Marcus has impaled him and kills William. It could be argued that the scene works because the series has spent a whole film treating him as the softer half of the pair. Selene fights, Michael follows, and then the roles flip at the moment the creature design pays off.

My second pick is the bite in Underworld (2003). Lucian's attack is the hinge of the saga, because everything after it, from Singe's explanation to Marcus waking as a hybrid, depends on a human doctor being something other than ordinary. It is also the moment Selene has to choose, and her choice drives the rest of the first film.

Third, perhaps, is the empty tank in Awakening. It is a quiet beat, and for a creature series a frightening one: Michael is gone, and neither Selene nor the audience knows by whom. Blood Wars later answers that question, but I think the missing body is the stronger scare. As such, if you are new to Michael, start with Underworld (2003) and Evolution, then read the underworld movies in order guide before Awakening.