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Marvel releases a first trailer: who is «Moon Knight»?

18/1/2022

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

As we now know: the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get a whole lot darker. After all, the titular hero in «Moon Knight» is a mentally troubled man with a penchant for violence. At least that’s what the comics say.

We see actor Oscar Isaac. Disturbed. Scared. Confused. Donning a white costume and hood. His face remains covered. Still, silver eyes shimmer through the shadows. Filled with rage. Ladies and gentlemen: Moon Knight, the newest superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

From the trailer released last night, we still don’t learn much about the plot of the Disney+ series launching in March. Still, many non-comic enthusiasts are currently asking something else anyway:

who even is this Moon Knight guy?

Marc Spector, the mentally troubled mercenary

Chicago, a slum in the 1930s. Pacifist Rabbi Elijah escapes from Nazi Germany. Soon thereafter, his son is born – Marc Spector. Their life was supposed to be better than in Czechoslovakia, their homeland. But even as a child, Marc had to watch in disbelief as his father was constantly harassed without ever fighting back.

Only one person stands by them: Rabbi Yitz Perlman. Supposedly. Turns out the lovable Perlman is actually a brutal Nazi deserter and serial killer, constantly on the hunt for Jews. Perlman captures Marc, tortures him. Slowly driving him insane.

And that’s only the beginning.

The torturer who drove Marc Spector insane.
Source: Marvel Comics

Marc is able to free himself from the clutches of his tormentor, but his brutal treatment left scars: he develops dissociative identity disorder – a mental illness where multiple identities alternate within the same person without remembering what each of the other personalities does or says.

In Marc’s case, that’s Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. For the time being. Years later, as Grant, he works his way up to become a multimillionaire. As Jake, on the other hand, he remains a modest cab driver living in poverty. However, it’s his original personality, Marc, that becomes Moon Knight. He first works as a boxer, then a soldier and a CIA agent before finally making a career as a mercenary. All is well until he accepts a mission in Egypt that fundamentally changed his life once again.

Encountering gods

An alliance with the sadistic gang leader Raul Bushman leads Marc to archaeological finding that can be sold on the black market for many millions of dollars. The only thing is, Bushman doesn’t like to share. He betrays Marc and leaves him to die in the eternal sands of Egypt.

Marc, badly wounded, uses his last strength to drag himself to the exposed tomb of the moon god Khonshu. Who then appears to him. He makes Marc a deal: as the god himself cannot take physical shape on earth, Marc is to act as his avatar and carry out his wishes. Marc agrees. The ancient deity restores his body and endows him with supernatural powers. But there’s a catch. The strength of his powers varies depending on the phase of the moon. While he tends to keep a low profile during a new moon, Marc might even give Captain America a run for his money at the full moon.

Khonshu, the Egyptian moon god, gives Moon Knight his powers.
Source: Marvel Comics

Marc returns to New York as an avenger. He promptly captures Bushman in retaliation for his betrayal in Egypt – by brutally ripping the skin off his face. Khonshu’s plan works: Marc and his other personalities now combine all four aspects of the Moon God: Pathfinder, Watcher, Defender, and the Watcher of Overnight Travellers.

Moon Knight is born.

Moon Knight is clearly a superhero for a more adult audience.
Source: Marvel Comics

Fans have long dreamed of seeing Moon Knight in the MCU. Also because his dark, disturbingly distant nature as a nocturnal avenger is reminiscent of DC’s Batman – the difference being that Moon Knight actually has superpowers. As well as an officially diagnosed mental illness.

His most fascinating feature, however, is his ambivalence. Sometimes he’s grumpy. Sometimes he quips like Spider-Man. And sometimes his humour is plain morbid. To this day, even in the comics, it’s still not clear whether Marc is a zealous servant of an ancient god with a strict agenda, or merely a victim of his rampant psychoses – with Khonshu nothing but a figment of his own imagination. Even his fluctuating powers could be logically justified. The hero remains a mystery. And if there’s one thing people love…

What does the trailer tell us?

The MCU’s story is likely to diverge from the comic. This is already evident from the trailer. The story starts from Steven Grant’s point of view of, a multimillionaire in the comics, yet here an apparently modest salesman with severe insomnia. Grant claims to suffer from this as he can no longer distinguish between dreams and reality. Probably because his dreams aren’t dreams at all. Rather, they’re fragments of memories from his other personalities’ lives. Such as when a woman suddenly calls him Marc over the phone, surprised that «Marc» is even still alive.

An allusion to Bushman’s betrayal in Egypt?

«Moon Knight» is likely to be more brutal than any Disney+ series before it. At least going by the official poster released last night.

Bloody blades in the shape of crescent moons – Moon Knights speciality.
Source: Disney

And then there’s actor Ethan Hawke. Whom does he play? That’s unclear. Here’s my (bold) guess: Mephisto. Yes, I know. Officially, he’s listed as scientist Arthur Harrow, who played a rather small role in the comics. On top of that, supervillain Mephisto has long degenerated into a running gag among Marvel fans due to being constantly prophesied by conspiracy theorists but never showing up ever since «WandaVision».

Consider, however: do you remember Agnes, who definitely wasn’t Agatha Harkness? Or that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield definitely wouldn’t be in «Spider-Man: No Way Home?» Well. Mephisto was already one of Moon Knight’s enemies in the comics. And one of his greatest specialities is deception. Who knows, but maybe, just maybe, the dream of having the demonic villain in an MCU series will finally come true for us comic fans. Ethan Hawke would be a dream casting, that’s for sure.

We’ll find out for sure, starting March 30, when «Moon Knight» launches on Disney+.

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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