MOON KNIGHT Explained | Origin Story, Powers, B...

MOON KNIGHT Explained | Origin Story, Powers, Best Comic Books And Everything You Need To Know

You can try to resist, try to hide from his fist, but you know, but you know that you, can’t fight the Moon Knight.

The first episode of the Marvel Disney Plus show is now out and if it left you scratching your head then this is for you. Throughout it, we’re gonna be breaking down everything you need to know about Moon Knight including his powers, gadgets and best comic book runs. I have done a video on the character before but no one likes to milk topics more than your uncle Kevin spoilers and, hopefully, this has enough new info in it that you don’t mind. Not like you were doing anything anyway, you’re sitting about watching mediocre Youtube videos, what are you complaining about?

Who is Steven Grant?

Now the show plants us firmly in the perspective of Steven Grant, a lowly museum staff member who has trouble sleeping at night.

But what are his hopes…his dreams…when he can get them in?

Well weirdly Marvel went outside the box by introducing us to him first and in the source material, Marc is actually the main persona. Steven has been changed up quite a bit and in the comics, he’s a socialite playboy who’s basically Marvel’s answer to Bruce Wayne.

Over the years though they’d slowly branched out from this and Marvel very much use the character almost as a mental health study. He initially started off as just one man acting as Steven when the time called for it but this has been developed to go way beyond that. More modern takes have Marc actually suffering from DID or Dissociative Identity Disorder. This means that he has multiple personalities who all take over his body and he regularly cuts between them.

If you’ve seen Split then you know what to expect and Marc is one of the most broken Superheroes in comic book history. Now along with Marc and Steven, we also have the persona of Jake Lockley. In the comics, he’s a cab driver who uses his connections to underworld crime to gain intel for Marc. Then there’s of course the personas of Moon Knight and Mr Knight which are very much extensions of the personalities that all inhabit Marc’s body.

Moon Knight’s First Appearance

Now Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, originally appeared in Werewolf by Night 32 all the way back in 1975. He was co-created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin in what was a devilish debut. Marc was a mercenary that was working for the highest bidder to take down the titular character by day or by knight.

Not really a good pun but there we are.

He arrived on the scene with several weapons including Batons, Spiked Gloves, darts and his signature throwing device the Moonrang. Always annoys me when I hear that, as Moonerang would be better. Anyway, by the end of the issue, Marc and Werewolf By Night realise it’s all one big misunderstanding and they decide to become friends. See he ain’t so bad.

Now though he was originally meant to just appear in a one-off, the character was extremely popular and thus they decided to bring him back. I dunno how they judged if a side character was popular back then as they didn’t have the internet to gauge fan interest but maybe it’s like when you show one of your Youtube videos to your mother and she’s like ‘Paul this is the best video I’ve ever seen, you should be on TV with that nasal voice.’

Editors Marv Wolfman and Len Wein decided to start placing him in other arcs and they switched him from a villain to a hero which is where we are pretty much at today.

Marc’s History in the Comics

Now Marc’s story begins all the way back in Chicago Illinois. Born the son of a Rabbi he and his father had a strained relationship due to a strict upbringing. Over the years as the secondary personas have been retconned to be part of his DID they have kinda reintroduced them in his past. Steven even appeared as an imaginary friend in his childhood and because Marc wasn’t allowed to have many friends, this persona was very much created to keep him occupied.

Now in some runs, Marc believed that his dad was a coward because he fled the east to escape the holocaust during the Second World War.

Marc stated that he should’ve remained and fought and this led to him enrolling in Boxing classes before he switched his attention to the U.S. Marine Corp.

Spector was the best of the best of the best sir and he left the Marines to become a gun for hire. Working as a Mercenary he carried out several black ops jobs for the CIA and gained the nickname Marcenary.

He didn’t, he didn’t edit, edit that out.

Meeting Khonshu

Now Marc quickly gained a reputation as being the best of the best of the best sir and he ended up being selected for a job out in Egypt. Along with another Mercenary they travelled out to a dig site in Egypt that had unearthed a temple dedicated to the Moon God Khonshu.

Realising that it would make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, Bushman killed most of the archaeologists there and he ended up beating the crap out of Marc.

He left him behind to die at the site but Marc was found by the locals who worshipped the God and they took him to their shrine.

In the world between the living and the dead, Khonshu appeared to Marc and was like ‘alright mate, I’ll let you live if you’re my avatar on Earth and that pal.’

Marc agreed and he wrapped himself in the silver shrowd on the statue which was when Moon Knight was born.

Marc caught up to Bushman and he got revenge for what he did at the dig. Bushman has remained a major antagonist in the Moon Knight books over the years and though there’s been no news of him being in the series, he is integral to Marc’s origin story.

After this, he returned to America, became a crime fighter and through the blackest day and darkest night nobody can fight my man, Moon Knight.

Powers

Now alongside Boxing, Spector also trained in the arts of Ninjitsu, Muay Thai, Judo, Kung Fu and Karate. Because of his training, he can perform at an Olympic level and he is also a master in acrobatics, thus traversal around the city is easy for him.

Now Moon Knight originally didn’t have any superpowers but over the years he’s become more and more skilled to the point that his abilities border on the supernatural. Judging by what the character does in the trailers for the series it seems like he’s gonna have enhanced abilities such as increased strength, speed and agility.

The man also does a killer Dick Van Dyke impression and the guy has got it all going on.

Now Marc has had a very hot and cold relationship with Khonshu, much like what we see in the show. At several points, he has disobeyed the God and he was even stripped of his powers and left cripppled. This happened in the book the bottom by Warren Ellis and he even cut off Bushman’s face at one point in it. He was a fully broken man and he begged for a second chance from the God which was eventually granted.

Book Recommendations

Now there are also a lot of theories that Marc actually may have imagined the entire thing and that Khonshu never even came to him and he’s just hallucinating the whole thing. It’s a fascinating aspect of the character and there are lots of books that delve into his mental health. Now if you want something to read for the character then chances are you’re gonna get a bit lost. There are so many runs that are just called Moon Knight Volume 1 and because of this, you can get a bit lost in it.

Personally, I recommend picking up Werewolf By Night 32 and one of the classic collections that contain not only this but also some of the first stories involving the character. Though the origin story of Moon Knight isn’t essential reading, it is interesting to see how it’s been modified over the years.

There’s also the incredible Jeff Lemire run that you can pick up in a complete collection. This follows Marc as he’s trapped in what appears to be a psychiatric hospital which he’s apparently been in since a kid. There’s very much a 12 monkeys vibe to it where he’s not sure if he is Moon Knight or if he imagined it all as the doctors say.

Eventually, it’s revealed to actually be in a void outside of space and time overseen by Khonshu who wants to destroy Marc mentally so that he can rediscover himself. There are some amazing fourth-wall-breaking moments and as he jumps between his personalities, the environments shift around him. When he’s Steven he believes it’s all just a tv show that he’s filming and that he’s an actor taking part in a psychological drama called Moon Knight. When he’s in his Jake mode he’s on the streets of Chicago helping police to solve crimes. When he’s Moon Knight he’s a fighter pilot that works on the Moon and his call sign is well…Moon Knight.

Lots of incredible moments and I definitely recommend that you pick that up. In the end, he ends up joining all his personalities together and they come as one to crush the skull of Khonshu.

Now it is revealed in the book that Khonshu had his eyes on him ever since he was a child and in some stories he’s merely shown as a manifestation of the god called a Pathfinder.

These have appeared over the years and it’s gonna be interesting to see if the show tries to tackle something like this. Now with the Eternals post-credits scene, it’s also possible that we could see a formation of the Midnight Suns soon and potentially Dane Whitman, Moon Knight and Blade could team up together.

They’ve all had major parts of their lives in London Museums and potentially the team could be formed in a post-credits scene for the series, leading into the Blade movie down the line.

Anyway, that’s everything you need to know about Moon Knight and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the show in the comments below.

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