Moon Knight (2022) is the latest addition to the ever-expanding MCU's cast of heroes. It may be tempting to skip out on this new Disney+ series, seeing as Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac) is a relatively obscure character compared to Spider-man or Doctor Strange. However, rest assured that Moon Knight is worthy of sharing the screen with other Marvel Juggernauts.
Marc Spector's comic book dynamic with the Avengers and upcoming characters like Blade and The Black Knight (Kit Harrington) will be something audiences will eat up. Understanding the source material could be crucial to fully absorbing the new series on March 30th.
His Origin Story is Very Intense
As with so many superheroes, Marc Spector's history is deeply tragic. He grew up as the son of a Rabbi and eventually joined the Marines, but was dishonorably discharged for striking an officer. He joined the CIA with his Brother, Randall, who murdered Marc's girlfriend, Lisa, after she found out about his illegal dealings with foreign powers. Upon realizing these betrayals, Marc seemingly killed his brother with a grenade.
This led him to quit the CIA and start boxing illegally, where he met his best friend, Frenchie Duchamp. Both Frenchie and Marc became mercenaries for the highest bidder, which led to a job with Black Spectre, who mortally wounded Marc and left him to die in the desert. Marc crawled to a tomb where he was found by Marlene Alraune, who would later become Marc's on-again, off-again lover. She laid him down near an idol of Khonshu (The Egyptian god of the moon). Here, the spirit of Khonshu promised to save Marc's life in exchange for his body to be used as an avatar to do his bidding. Once Marc agreed, he took the idol and developed his persona of Moon Knight.
He Suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder
After returning from Egypt, Marc Spector created two other identities to help him with his new superhero duties: Steven Grant - a millionaire who can fund his costumes and gadgets - and Jake Lockley - a cab driver who can gather information about targets at street level. Sadly, Marc's traumatic past and the spirit of Khonshu inside him led him to develop a Dissociative Identity Disorder (or Multiple Personality Disorder).
Marc often has no idea what is going on with his other personalities; all three have been known to keep secrets from each other. This understandably causes distress for Moon Knight, and he often finds himself in a depressed state. The Disney+ show seems to have one of Moon Knight's personalities - Steven Grant - thinking he suffers from a sleep disorder. He is not aware of what is going on.
Batman - With an Egyptian God On His Side
Surprisingly, Moon Knight's powers are not all linked to the moon god that resides in him. His time as a boxer made him an expert with hand-to-hand combat, while his time in the Marines, CIA, and as a mercenary made him an excellent marksman. He has an almost unmatched accuracy when throwing his crescent darts, but he can use anything as a deadly weapon.
His supernatural abilities include prophetic visions, enhanced strength in the full-moon, and extremely high pain tolerance. Moon Knight's style of fighting often resorts to him absorbing blows and taking on massive amounts of pain to retaliate faster. He can also be resurrected after death (if the spirit of Khonshu so desires). Lastly, he is quite the detective when in his Mr. Knight Persona. Hopefully, the MCU version will show the more calculating side of the character.
His Arch-Nemesis is His Brother, Randall
When Marc Spector's brother resurfaced as Shadow Knight, it was no shock to anyone. Randall survived the grenade that Marc had thrown at him and dedicated himself to revenge by taking the title of "Khonshu's Avatar" away from his brother.
Shadow Knight has the same abilities as Moon Knight, like increased agility and marksmanship. Where his powers differ is his indestructibility. Shadow Knight is almost impervious to attacks. "Almost" because his skin has cracks in it, and if a knife or a bullet were to wedge himself between one of the cracks, he could be hurt.
He Fights Werewolves
The first appearance of Moon Knight was in Werewolf by Night, Vol. 1, #32 (1975). In this issue, Spector's first mission as Moon Knight has him pitted against a real werewolf (specifically Jack Russel). He later appeared in a few other comics - including a Spider-man story - before getting his own comic run.
It may seem unlikely that werewolves will appear in the MCU. Still, the recent tease of Blade (Mahershala Ali) at the end of Eternals (2021) seems to open the door for this possibility. Blade hunts vampires, and there could very well be werewolves where there are vampires.
He Moonlights as an Avenger
For a brief period, Moon Knight joined the West Coast Avengers. He helped guide the team through Ancient Egypt in exchange for Hawkeye to design new weapons for him.
This did not last long, as his mental state fought against the spirit of Khonshu, thus making him an unstable partner. Moon Knight officially left when he disagreed with the Avenger's view on killing. They believed it was wrong, and Moon Knight had different opinions. He later joined the Secret Avengers with Captain America.
He Joined the Sokovia Accords
The Sokovia accords were the main point of contention between Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) and Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Essentially, an initiative passed that forced all superheroes to register with the government and only act when told to. Half of the Avengers agreed with Tony, and the other half sided with Steve and became fugitives.
In the comics, a similar legislative bill led to a civil war, only it was called The Super-human Registration Act. What does any of this have to do with Marc Spector? Well, Moon Knight surprisingly signed the registration act - albeit only because the will of Khonshu forced him to. This fact is primarily interesting when considering the MCU's Moon Knight as being on Iron Man's side in Captain America: Civil War.
He Became Spider-man, Wolverine, and Captain America
It sounds made up, but because of Moon Knight's Dissociative Identity Disorder, he convinced himself that he was Spider-man, Wolverine, and Captain America. He was having hallucinations of working with the three heroes when he was acting as them all himself.
This led to his Wolverine persona killing off the other two hero personas. The show seems to be leaning into this style of Moon Knight stories where it is unclear what is real and what is a hallucination.
He Had a Secret Daughter
During one of Marc's many break-ups with Marlene, one of his personalities - Jake Lockley - became romantically involved with her unbeknownst to the other personas. He fathered a child named Diatrice and raised her with Marlene. Marc did not realize he had a daughter until years later.
This could be a massive reveal in the TV series. Steven Grant already does not know anything about his other personalities. Also, no mention has been made about the third personality - Jake Lockley. It's possible that this personality could be a twist later in the series, along with the reveal of Diatrice.
Khonshu Betrayed Marc and Took Manhattan
There have been a lot of wild comic runs with Moon Knight. The one that had the most significant effect in the Marvel universe was when Khonshu was possessed with prophetic visions of Mephisto taking over the earth. Eventually - to stop this from happening - Khonshu took over the entire city of Manhattan, calling it New Thebes City. Moon Knight was able to adopt the Phoenix force and imprison Khonshu in Asgard.
Moon Knight has a lot of history from which the new MCU show can pull. However, since the MCU likes to have sizable dramatic set pieces for their climax, a series finale of Khonshu taking over Manhattan would fit the bill. The trailers already seem to be framing Khonshu as an evil force. Fans will have to wait and see.