Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today we’re going to give you a look into
the hero Moon Knight, who’s about to arrive in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a Disney+
series starring Oscar Isaac.
Now…
Moon Knight’s story in the comics isn’t always easy to follow, so this isn’t a straight-line
chronological look, but rather the highlights and general gist of who this character is.
Moon Knight’s true name is Marc Spector, the son of a rabbi, born and raised in Chicago.
A traumatic event when he was a boy caused Marc to develop Dissociative Identity Disorder,
a mental illness that causes him to switch identities.
This disorder used to be commonly called Multiple Personality Disorder, before it was updated
to Dissociative Identify Disorder.
Marc has several identities, often with unique accents and personality traits, who may or
may not be aware of the other personalities’ existence.
This disorder had quite an impact on Marc as he grew up, eventually joining the US Marines
before being discharged for his irregular and likely dangerous behavior.
This caused Marc to seek out employment as a mercenary, which took him to Egypt for a
job.
The job went sideways and Marc was near death, when he was brought to a statue of an Egyptian
god called Khonshu, who made Marc an offer he couldn’t refuse.
So in exchange for his life, Marc took on the mantle of Khonshu’s avatar in the real
world, given the name Moon Knight.
Now, he wasn’t really given superhuman abilities but Khonshu has been known to step in to save
Marc, such as bringing him back from death on several occasions.
Otherwise, Marc suits up and uses technology to fight crime.
His military background makes him a formidable opponent and his various weapons and gadgets
often him an advantage over street level thugs.
Now I mentioned he has various identities...
These may be different in the Disney+ series but here’s how they look in the comics.
We start with Steven Grant, the identity that invested Marc’s money and made him quite
wealthy, the reason Marc can afford these gadgets to fight crime.
On the street level, we have the identity known as Jake Lockley, a cab driver who has
an ear to the ground and whose connections can help Moon Knight track down the bad guys.
We also have the original identity Marc and then the full blown vigilante Moon Knight,
but there’s a character in between these two extremes, known as Mr. Knight, who is
a still a masked hero but does the talking, he’s the one who might go to psychiatrist
appointments and discuss his disorder openly or he might be the one to talk to people who
need Moon Knight’s help, to gather intel before the vigilante himself heads out to
do the dirty work.
Together, all these identities serve to gather intel, prepare, and then serve justice as
the fist of Khonshu, who is capable of appearing as a physical manifestation but is often just
a voice in Marc’s head telling him what to do.
This is a contentious idea, as other heroes may not trust a hero getting directions from
a voice in their head, so many of the big superhero teams have a tough time working
with Moon Knight, so he tends to stay to himself or align himself with other street level or
supernatural heroes.
He did a short stint as a member of what’s called the Secret Avengers as well as being
a member of the Heroes for Hire for a time.
With the Moon Knight series arriving to Disney+ at the end of this month, hopefully this helps
prepare you for what to expect and what unique role this character can play in the MCU moving
forward.
If you want to learn more, I’d recommend the podcast Into the Knight, a podcast solely
about Moon Knight, his roots in comics, and now his evolution into live action media.
You can find a link to their podcast in the description below.
Thanks for watching!