Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: There once was an eccentric millionaire who used his fortune, detective-skills and martial-arts prowess to strike fear into the hearts of the criminal underworld. He wears a costume, only comes out at night and claims to be vengeance. No, DC’s Batman didn’t suddenly up and travel over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) via Doctor Strange. We’re talking about Marvel’s very own crusader of the night and bane of crime, the Moon Knight.
Fans of the MCU have long heard, especially from DC fans, the criticism that their heroes are too bright and clean. Sure Iron Man, Thor and Captain America have their differences but they’re essentially shining beacons of virtue. Boy-Scouts next to the likes of Batman and the Sucidie Squad. Hell, even the Guardians of the Galaxy can’t help but become one big quais-familial hugfest. Where’s the edge and rage?
Well ponder no longer folks because the Moon Knight will be making his debut into the MCU with a whole Disney+ series dedicated to this enigmatic crime-fighter. In honour of the lunar knight, we’re giving a breakdown of everything you need to know about the character and the series! Let’s get into it.
From Marc Spector to Moon Knight
While bearing a few similarities to Bruce Wayne’s Batman, the story of Marc Spector’s journey to becoming the Moon Knight is a lot more…weirder. Unlike Wayne, Marc wasn’t born into the lap of luxury. Rather, he grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Chicago with his Rabbi father. His family had barely escaped the Holocaust when Hitler invaded their homeland of Czechoslovakia. His tragic upbringing and frequent persecution for his Jewish heritage caused him to develop disocciative identity disorder (DID). This means he had multiple personalities residing within his mind.
When his father died, he left home to pursue work as a mercenary. During a mission to an Egyptian pharoah’s tomb, Spector was fatally wounded and left for dead. It was there and then, Spector encountered an ancient Egyptian deity of the night, Khonshu. In exchange for resurrecting him from death, he pledged to become Khonshu’s avenging angel. He would be tasked with defending the innocent in the light of Khonshu’s moon.
Now, here’s where things get a little creepy. Turns out, Khonshu has been waiting for Spector to become his champion ever since he was little boy. In fact, Spector’s vulnerable mental state was precisely the reason he was chosen. So yes while Khonshu is technically the reason why Spector became a superhero, he’s also driving the man insane!
Over the years, Marc has had multiple personalities in his head. One of them is a millionaire named Steve Grant and a cab-driver named Jake Lockley. In a sense, it’s Spector’s multiple personalities within his mind that creates the Moon Knight. Grant is the one who funds the gadgets and costumes, Lockley keeps Spector informed on the dealings of the criminal underworld and Khonshu is the voice that drives him to bring criminals to justice. That being said, Khonshu is far from being a benevolent, loving god. He’s got big plans for the world and is more than happy to use poor Marc to achieve his ends.
We’re interested in seeing how the MCU portrays Khonshu and Spector’s mental state throughout the “Moon Knight” series. Will they lean into the more supernatural elements of the characters? Or will it take a more grounded approach in dealing with Spector’s psychology? In any case, we can’t wait to find out!
Powers and Abilities
In spite of being a complete nutjob possessed by an ancient moon god, Moon Knight is actually quite a gifted polymath. For one, he’s an expert detective who is capable of finding leads and tracking down targets using his cab-driver persona. He’s managed to make a fortune for himself as Steve Grant in Wall Street. His days as a mercenary has made him a skilled and brutal fighter, skilled in various martial arts. Moon Knight carries weapons ranging from batons to moon-shaped boomerangs called Crescent Darts and grappling hooks.
What makes Moon Knight a truly terrifying character is just how brutal and violent the guy is. Unlike Batman, he’s got zero qualms about killing folks as long as it gets the job done. He isn’t bound by any real moral code beyond not killing innocent bystanders. There have been a few moments in the past in which Moon Knight has exhibited supernatural strength or abilties whenever Khonshu wills it. For the most part though, he’s just a mortal man pushed to the edge of insanity.
Moon Knight in the MCU
During last year’s Disney+ Day, one of the many series announced to be released this year was “Moon Knight”. With the recent trailer for “Moon Knight”, we now know the series will making its way in March. Oscar Isaac who played Poe Dameron in Disney’s “Star Wars” trilogy and Apocalypse in Fox’s “X-Men: Apocalypse”, will be making his first official appearance in the MCU as Marc Spector/Moon Knight. The first season consisting of six episodes will see Isaac’s Moon Knight travel the globe as he becomes embroiled in a war between gods with the series being set against ancient and modern Egypt. Fun fact: In Marvel comics, one of the rival gods who frequently clashes with Khonshu is Bast, the Panther God of Wakanda. So be sure to look out for any Black Panther Easter-eggs lurking around the corner in the series.
Joining Isaac are cast members May Calamawy and Ethan Hawke. While Calamawy’s role in the series has remained unclear, we do know that Hawke will indeed be playing the main antagonist to Isaac’s Moon Knight. His character is said to model after the infamous cult leader, David Koresh. Now there is one particular villain in Moon Knight’s rogues gallery that fits Hawke’s character in the series, the Sun King. Much like Marc Spector, he too suffers from a mental disorder and draws power from an ancient Egyptian deity, Amon Ra. In the comics, he amasses an army of followers and has the ability to control fire.
Could the war of gods the series sypnosis is describing be one between Khonshu’s champion, Moon Knight, and Amon Ra’s Sun King. The moon and sun are opposing natural forces so this match-up would make perfect thematic sense. Hopefully we’ll get more details once Marvel Studios finally decides to drop an official trailer for the series.
Be sure to stay tuned to us for more updates on “Moon Knight” coming out this March on Disney+Hotstar streaming services!
