This article contains spoilers for Moon Knight Episode 3.Like the vast majority of Marvel’s less mainstream heroes, Marc Spector doesn’t exactly have much of an expansive rogues’ gallery to draw from when adapting his story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, there is one incredibly important antagonist from the comics who plays a major role in theMoon KnightTV series, and it may not be who you expect.
The primary antagonist of theMoon Knightseries is Arthur Harrow, the ruthless cult leader and former Avatar of Khonshu played by Ethan Hawke. However, Harrow has only ever appeared in a single issue of the comics back in 1985. In truth, Moon Knight’s greatest foe in the original comics is none other than Khonshu himself.
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Bad Moon Rising
But to understand whyKhonshu is such an antagonistic forcein the comics — and the implications this carries for the MCUMoon Knightseries — we must first take a look at Khonshu’s shifting role throughout the history of theMoon Knightcomics. For starters, fans of the MCU series may be surprised to learn that Khonshu was an incredibly minor presence in the originalMoon Knightcomics by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz.
In fact, Khonshu wasn’t even an active character within the story: he only appeared in the form of a lifeless statue, which Marc Spector believed was responsible for bringing him back to life after dying in Egypt. Marc claims that Khonshu saved him so that he could deliver vengeance to the wicked as Moon Knight, but his visions of Khonshu are never actually shown to the reader, implying that they’renothing more than hallucinations.
But while the question of whether Khonshu was real would continue to linger over the comic for decades to come, later writers would make him a much more active presence in the story regardless. In the 2006 storyline “The Bottom”, written by Charlie Huston and drawn by David Finch, Khonshu appears before Marc as a cruel and bloodthirsty manipulator, urging him to use increasingly lethal methods in his quest for vengeance. But while Marc desperately tried to resist Khonshu’s influence, neither could he escape it.
In the 2014Moon Knightrun by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey, Marc is depicted at his most isolated, having fully succumbed to Khonshu’s influence and pushed all his friends and loved ones away. In this story, Marc (or“Mr. Knight” as he calls himself) sees himself less as a person and more as an idea, a living extension of Khonshu’s will. Khonshu, to his credit, is much less hostile towards Marc in this story, but no less condescending. Nevertheless. It’s heavily implied that Marc’s isolation is a result of Khonshu’s control over him.
In the 2016 run written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Greg Smallwood, Khonsu initially appears to be a well-meaning benefactor to Marc, guiding him through a twisted New York controlled by the Egyptian god Seth and his army of monsters. However, as Marc gradually begins to reconnect with his old friends over the course of his quest, Khonshu begins to turn aggressive,berating Marc for not focusingon the mission.
In the end, it’s revealed that Seth’s invasion of New York was nothing but an illusion created by Khonshu. Out of patience with Marc’s morals holding him back, Khonshu sought to break his Avatar so thoroughly that he could possess him completely and be free to spread his own vengeance across the world. A series of flashbacks even reveals that Khonshu has been manipulating Marc from the shadows for his entire life, guiding him down the path of becoming Moon Knight. But in the end, Marc is able to defeat Khonshu and banish him from his mind, breaking free from his control at last.
The True Enemy?
As of now, the MCU’s Khonshudoesn’t seem nearly as villainousas his comic counterpart. At the end of last week’s episode, he even sacrificed himself to show Steven and Layla the way to Ammit’s tomb, becoming sealed inside a statue as a result. However, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that Khonshu could take a more antagonistic role later on after being freed from his captivity. After all, Episode 2 already established Khonshu’s callous and manipulative nature — by selecting Layla as his next Avatar, he’s forcing Marc to keep serving as Moon Knight against his will. And while he’s more fair in his view of justice than Harrow, he’s no less brutal in his pursuit of it. Additionally, it’s all but stated that Marc’s service of Khonshu caused the divide between him and Layla, or at least heavily contributed to it.
It’s entirely likely thatthe season won’t endwith Khonshu becoming a direct antagonist to Moon Knight, and that he’ll stick around to keep manipulating Marc/Steven, just as he has in the comics. But even if Khonshu isn’t the main villain ofMoon KnightSeason 1, the series has already planted the seeds of Khonshu being Moon Knight’s true nemesis. After all, even if Khonshu isn’t plotting to take over the world, he’s still a constant negative force in Moon Knight’s life — and that’s one major aspect of the comics that the MCU has managed to capture quite well.
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