Meet the many minds of Moon Knight
There’s a lot going on in Moon Knight’s head, so let’s break it all down before Oscar Isaac's Disney Plus series drops
TV News Moon Knight
One of the biggest and most crucial things that Marvel Studios has accomplished by releasing so many movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon is establishing context for the world in which these superheroes and villains exist. We know that Captain America has been a thing in this world for decades, for example, and that shapes everything else about this reality, because that fact has to make sense and be treated as normal.
With that context, the MCU can then spin out and tell atypical superhero stories that aren’t necessarily about a guy with a secret identity who fights crime at night. That brings us to Moon Knight, star of Disney+’s latest MCU off-shoot series (and the first without any overt ties to the movies, as far as we know at this point). Moon Knight, at least in comparison to most other superheroes, is weird. He has a secret identity and a violent superhero identity, but they are just that: distinct personas that he mentally changes into and out of. It’s like how some interpretations of Batman operate on the idea that the Dark Knight is his real personality and Bruce Wayne is a mask. For Moon Knight, they’re all different masks because he genuinely recognizes them as distinct people who are all separate from each other. They just happen to share a head.
And by “all” we mean “all.” The various identities of Moon Knight don’t stop at the superhero guy, Moon Knight, and the regular guy, Marc Spector. He actually has no fewer than five personalities, and depending on what a particular writer wants to do with the character, he sometimes has even more. So, ahead of Moon Knight’s premiere on Disney+ (look for our episode recaps starting on Wednesday, March 30), let’s meet them.
(At this point, it’s worth noting that Moon Knight is generally referred to as having dissociative identity disorder, a very real condition that a violent superhero story may not be the most well-equipped to handle with grace and sensitivity. If Disney wants to suggest that Moon Knight has dissociative identity disorder, that’s fine, but in order to avoid making light of a real-life diagnosis by connecting it to a very unreal fictional character, we will be operating under the assumption that Moon Knight’s personalities have a tangible, albeit supernatural, origin—which is to say that they developed because of his communion with an Egyptian moon god.)
Who is Marc Spector?
In the comics, before he ever became Moon Knight, Marc Spector was a deadly mercenary and a huge jerk. During a mission in Egypt, one of Spector’s fellow mercenaries kills an archaeologist and tries to loot an ancient tomb. Spector tries to stop him and is killed, dying at the foot of a statue depicting Khonshu, the ancient Egyptian moon god. In what early stories implied might have been a hallucination (but later stories revealed was very much not), Spector is visited by Khonshu before dying and given a chance to be resurrected if he agreed to serve as the god’s avatar on Earth—which means anything from “protecting people who are in danger at night” to “killing vampires” and “anyone who stands in the way of Khonshu’s nebulous goals.”
Who is Moon Knight?
Moon Knight is essentially Batman. There’s no use trying to pretend otherwise. He has a cape; he fights crime with moon-themed gadgets; and he’s probably more brutal than ever has to be. It’s just that, rather than an angry man fighting for justice, he’s an angry personification of how a moon god defines justice. Sometimes he has vague superpowers, like enhanced strength and speed, but nothing too flashy. It’s more about punching people and cutting them up with crescent-shaped throwing stars.
Who is Mr. Knight?
Mr. Knight is essentially Batman, too… but the chill Batman who meets up with Commissioner Gordon at crime scenes and looks for clues. He is, for all intents and purposes, the “civilian identity” for the character, in the sense that he’s more or less a normal guy. He just happens to wear a stark white suit and a white mask. When someone needs to talk to Moon Knight, Mr. Knight is the personality they would probably interact with.
Who are Jake Lockley and Steven Grant?
Jake Lockley is a blue-collar cab driver, the street-level eyes and ears of the Moon Knight operation, the kind of person that nobody would ever notice or care about. Steven Grant, meanwhile, is the Bruce Wayne personality. He’s a rich playboy who funds Moon Knight’s crimefighting work by paying for all of the aforementioned moon-themed gadgets. Like the others, they’re distinct people with distinct personalities, and they all know they’re sharing a body with a brutal vigilante.
Who are Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America?
Spider-Man is a guy who can climb on walls and has the proportionate strength of a spider. Wolverine is a mutant with a metal skeleton who can pop claws out of his knuckles thanks to his superhuman healing powers. Captain America is a super-soldier created by the U.S. government during World War II, and after being frozen in ice for a few decades, he returned to lead The Avengers and be an all-around good guy. They are all actually different Moon Knight personalities.
Oh wait, no. They’re all actual superheroes who are not Moon Knight, but during Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s run with the character in the comics, those three Avengers manifested as new Moon Knight personalities (though he thought he was talking to the actual people, not the fake ones in his mind). Though not as prevalent as the others, Moon Knight has since, on occasion, checked in with his internal versions of Spidey, Cap, and Logan for advice.
The odds of those three showing up in the Disney+ show are pretty low, but it would be a ton of fun if they did. We’ll know for sure when Moon Knight premieres on March 30.
47 Comments
I’m so confused.
Watch Split.
Yeah, exactly.
Watch “Split.”
You’ll watch another actor pretend to have an even more make-believe mental illness.
And it’s got totally more realistic superpowers, too.
Dope.
Hi So Confused, I’m dad.
fuckyourself
Yup. That’s Moon Knight in a nutshell. Now factor in the fact that every writer seems to have a radically different position on whether or not Marc Spector really died and was resurrected by an ancient Egyptian moon god or if he’s just a mentally ill dude with split personalities and said moon god is just a hallucination. It seems that Marvel editorial has finally decided on the former thanks to Jason Aaron’s Avengers having a storyline where Khonshu literally takes over the world and a random panel in King In Black quietly calls Khonshu an “Elder God”, making him an entity on par with Shuma Gorath. Of course time will tell if some other writer decides to throw this away to say “No, Marc is CRAZY!”
I feel like Marvel needs their own “Crisis on Infinite Earths” at this point and just wipe it all out and start over.
I think now it’s pretty well defined that Mark is definitely mentally ill, he just happens to have the attention of, and sometimes work, for an elder god. It looks like TV Mark is going to have at least some magic power ups, and I’m interested to see how far they go with it.
Hell yes. Are we being mocked?
Relax. Its a Disney plus show. They have to keep it PG and straight forward such that an eight year old could follow.
Me too but it’s Oscar Isaac. Did you see that little home movie he made that SNL aired when he hosted? He’s already played a super hero ninja so he can handle this.
You make good points.
Which is the one with the dodgy British accent?
The one that’s not actually British, I assume.
Apparently the accent is entirely Oscar Issac’s creation.
(At this point, it’s worth noting that Moon Knight is generally referred to as having dissociative identity disorder, a very real condition that a violent superhero story may not be the most well-equipped to handle with grace and sensitivity. If Disney wants to suggest that Moon Knight has dissociative identity disorder, that’s fine, but in order to avoid making light of a real-life diagnosis by connecting it to a very unreal fictional character, we will be operating under the assumption that Moon Knight’s personalities have a tangible, albeit supernatural, origin—which is to say that they developed because of his communion with an Egyptian moon god.)Hey, thoughtfulness!
I sympathize though, my moderate ADHD was also caused by meddling with an ancient Egyptian moon god. The DSM-IV should really include more documentation around the risk factors of unearthing the temple of Khonsu.
The Logan/Peter/Steve personalities won’t appear.It’s far too confusing, the setup, to have any impact, would require the actors, and honestly, Brian Michael Bendis needs to stay out of creating new, fundamentally “what the hell?” changes to characters he doesn’t write. I was reading that arc as it was coming out and it made no goddamn sense.
To hear Oscar Isaacs describe it, no, the disassociative identity disorder aspect will not be played for laughs, it will be treated as what it is – a mental illness that, over time, the personalities use to compartmentalize things. In this initial outing, that doesn’t exist, the personalities don’t know how to co-exist, or don’t know how to co-exist with Stephen, at least. He’s the guy out of the loop, who is currently in control of the body most often. I’d expect this was done by the big bad for the series, so essentially incapacitate Moon Knight by making Stephen the dominant.
Kind of like Total Recall.
but the chill Batman who meets up with Commissioner Gordon at crime scenes and looks for clues. He is, for all intents and purposes, the “civilian identity” for the character, in the sense that he’s more or less a normal guy.Wouldn’t that actually make him the part of Batman that’s a detective?The normal civilian guy sounds more like the one who drives a cab.
Mr. Knight is weird. I’m admittedly slightly behind on the comics so maybe they’ve changed this, but I know in the arc where he first appeared that persona wasn’t a separate identity but an alternate costume Marc/Moon Knight wore when interacting with the cops. This is because, to quote the first issue of that run, Moon Knight is a ‘dangerous vigilante’ and if the cops spotted him, they’d have to ‘follow a very specific set of standing orders and restrain him using whatever force was necessary.’ Instead, they deal with Mr. Knight, who’s a ‘concerned citizen,’ and conveniently gives him an excuse to not wear that cape all the time when it might look stupid.
Marvel’s Batman: how low can copying go?
Dissapointed in no mention of loaning money to Dracula ( especially in light of that Morbius movie coming out at roughly the same time)
Actually looking forward to this one but hoo boy I am NOT looking forward to the discourse around whether or not Disney is doing an accurate job of mental disorder depiction.
the discourse around whether or not Disney is doing an accurate job of mental disorder depiction. Oscar Isaac can get ahead of this by letting everyone know he’s a card carrying dissociative hysteric. I mean, he’s probably not, but if he has a card… [Y’know, like people without vaccinations who buy proof of vaccination cards on the internet. Which I’m sure happens.]
Well I mean, I have BPD, and I’d be a bit pissed off if a new superhero made that into a quirk… just saying. It IS valid criticism whether it’s close to you or not. Mental health issues are real and exist. Just to remind everyone.
On the flip-side, I highly recommend the show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” for exactly the opposite reason.
Sometimes times I feel like I’m an ultra-violent supernatural being that’s possessed a ruthless mercenary and as a result spawned multiple, distinct personalities that all share the same body. Other times it’s like I’m a hot shot rebel fighter pilot flying over a desert planet in a galaxy far, far away. Then there’s that time I felt like I was the deposed ruler of a different desert planet. But mostly I feel like I’m just a dude in a flannel shirt.What is it? Give it to me straight Doc. I can take it.
It’s my understanding they’ll introduce another personality into this version of the character.
Was it just the Ultimate version of Moon Knight that had a little girl persona?
all I know about Moon Knight is that he was bitten by a werewolf, and has increased strength and agility when the moon is full. Anything else is a sad retcon
See, I grew up reading the Southern version, Moon Pie Knight, where as he is dying from the diabeetus, The Little Debbie Goddess grants him powers. The fuck with this Yankee shit.
what
I guess you didn’t read Moonknight’s first appearance in Werewolf by Night #32
So he’s not the same person as Rom Spaceknight.
So, I have Bipolar Disorder with schizo-affective episodes.
ANY chance I can get any of these snowflake justice warriors to give even one half of a fuck about my perspective on this “superhero” with the real life mental illness which is real superpowers?
no?
no.
The answer is overwhelmingly “no.”
Cool article, Sam.
This is nothing. Wait until they bring in the Sentry.
This is nothing. Wait until they do the Sentry. He pretty much corners the market in MarvelWorld when it comes to crazy.
Not a bad explanation, but it’s easier to say Marc Spector is the Tyler Durden of Bruce Waynes. Personally I prefer Nighthawk 2, the Francis Castiglione of Bruce Waynes and a good example of how making a character Black suddenly can add a lot of depth.
Actually DID is highly contested in the field, at least inasmuch as the “multiple personality” aspect. Many psychologists believe it’s essentially “bad” practicioners wanting the hype and patients wanting to impress. Either way I don’t agree a Marvel show (or any show really) shouldn’t tackle it, it’s an aspect of life (in a way) and therefore fair game. The inavigable ”did Marvel treat a mental illness adequately” will be maddening to those who know Sibyl was BS and it’s a contested illness in the first place…
Turns out… little monkey fella.
If Disney wants to suggest that Moon Knight has dissociative identity disorder, that’s fine, but in order to avoid making light of a real-life diagnosis by connecting it to a very unreal fictional character, we will be operating under the assumption that Moon Knight’s personalities have a tangible, albeit supernatural, origin—which is to say that they developed because of his communion with an Egyptian moon god.Connecting real-life issues, including illness and mental illness, to very unreal fictional characters, does not intrinsically “make light” of anything. How respectfully or poorly it handles the topic, and the accuracy or error with which it treats, determines whether it’s making light or exploiting the reality. Not to mention making the character a competent hero might be appealing to some people with DID, rather than stereotypically villainous example. It might treat the topic poorly but this article doesn’t offer any evidence it does, and the kneejerk suggestion (mental) illness is unsuitable for fictional treatment is daft.
Why TF wasn’t Daredevil played by a blind actor! said nobody. Yet here we are awaiting the “Echo”? TV show?
Disney: We choose our battles depending on the day damnit!
“gay gay gay gaaaaay!”
(At this point, it’s worth noting that Moon Knight is generally referred to as having dissociative identity disorder, a very real condition that a violent superhero story may not be the most well-equipped to handle with grace and sensitivity. If Disney wants to suggest that Moon Knight has dissociative identity disorder, that’s fine, but in order to avoid making light of a real-life diagnosis by connecting it to a very unreal fictional character, we will be operating under the assumption that Moon Knight’s personalities have a tangible, albeit supernatural, origin—which is to say that they developed because of his communion with an Egyptian moon god.)The comic usually operates under that assumption as well, though it varies depending on the writer. For a long time, the official explanation was that Marc fractured his own psyche by putting so much effort into maintaining a series of aliases. Then the Warren Ellis arc came along and a doctor explained, in so many words “That’s bullshit, DID doesn’t work that way. Your problem is that a frigging moon god has worn a spot into your brain where they comfortably sit, like it was a couch, and the human psyche simply can’t handle that.”Next, the Jeff Lemire run said “No, no, Marc has always had this problem from childhood and his aliases were a coping mechanism for the alternate personalities within him the whole time. But Khonshu’s been manipulating him since long before their first official meeting, and may be partially responsible for his condition or at the very least has exacerbated it.”And I think that’s where the status quo currently is regarding his condition and its origins.