Last evening, Marvel Studios correctly lifted the lid on its subsequent Disney+ streaming collection, Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac because the titular avatar of moonlit justice. But the character of Moon Knight is arguably maybe one of many extra esoteric of the heroes coming in the studio’s slate this yr—and with a really mysterious trailer just like the one we bought, you might need some questions. We’re right here to assist.

Who Is Moon Knight?

First launched within the pages of Werewolf by Night #32 in 1975, Marc Spector, already the Moon Knight, was a mercenary tasked with capturing the titular lupine protagonist of the e book by a villainous group referred to as the Committee. Although his first look was distinctly antagonistic, Marc shortly groups up with Werewolf by Night and is reframed as extra of a darkish, however nonetheless noble hero. He’d have a number of appearances as a visitor star in collection like Marvel Two-In-One and The Defenders for a number of years, but it surely wouldn’t be till 1980 that Moon Knight bought his personal solo collection, from Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz, that may largely flesh out the framework for Marc’s origin because the hero.

That collection established that earlier than changing into Moon Knight, Marc was a former Marine who grew to become a mercenary after being discharged from the navy. Teaming up with the villainous mercenary Bushman, Marc is ultimately betrayed and left for lifeless on a mission within the Sudan when he tries to cease Bushman from looting an historic tomb and killing a staff of archaeologists investigating it. Barely making his approach again to civilization, locals take the near-dead Marc to a temple of the Egyptian moon god and purported protector of evening travellers, Khonshu, the place he succumbs to his wounds… solely to miraculously be reborn, declaring that Khonshu not solely saved his life, however has made him an avatar of his will because the Moon Knight.

Why Is Oscar Isaac Using… That Accent?

When Marc’s backstory was first fleshed out—in ways in which solely additional made audiences draw parallels between the character and DC’s Batman—he adopted completely different identities to obfuscate anybody looking for to trace down the id of Moon Knight. There’s nonetheless Marc Spector the mercenary, however there’s additionally Steven Grant, a Wall Street speculator and businessman who takes Marc’s financial savings and turns them into tens of millions, with a view to fund his vigilantism. We see an alternate iteration of this within the Moon Knight trailer, the place Steven isn’t a billionaire, however a shy, British museum reward store worker. Not glimpsed, nonetheless, is a 3rd id: Jake Lockley, a down-to-earth taxi driver that Marc adopts with a view to glean info from the streets. In later tales, he would add a fourth, merely often known as Mr. Knight, an alternate, business-suit carrying iteration of Moon Knight who labored as a police guide.

Originally, these have been merely personae that Marc adopted interchangeably relying on what wanted doing. But the miniseries Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu by Alan Zelenetz and Chris Warner in 1985 retconned these identities as alternate personalities, establishing that Marc suffered from dissociative id dysfunction. The sickness was introduced on by the stress of each Khonshu establishing a psychic reference to him as a toddler, and a traumatic childhood expertise uncovering {that a} rabbi with shut ties to Marc’s personal rabbi father, Elias, was truly secretly a Nazi serial killer concentrating on Jews. Ever since, Marc’s struggles together with his psychological well being—in addition to being unable to understand whether or not or not Khonshu is definitely actual or simply one other character in his thoughts—have been a foundational side of the character, as they look like within the upcoming present.

As for the accent Isaac makes use of within the Steven persona… have you ever heard British folks earlier than? They’re very foolish.

What Powers Does Moon Knight Have?

Just as with the the back-and-forth of whether or not or not Marc believes that Khonshu is one other side of his psychological well being points or he actually is the fist of an historic Egyptian moon deity, the hero’s skills have waxed and waned. Aside from the power for Khonshu to resurrect Marc after struggling mortal wounds, in some iterations, Khonshu’s spirit grants Marc enhanced energy and sturdiness based mostly on the cycle of the moon, in addition to a degree of safety towards psychic manipulation and infrequently prophetic visions. Khonshu has additionally beforehand given Marc blessed weapons and gear, together with an ankh that glows within the presence of mortal hazard, a protecting boomerang, in addition to throwing darts, knives, and gear to grapple and lasso his approach round city.

In others, Marc has been powerless, utilizing silver-coated weapons designed by himself (together with the crescent darts seen within the present’s poster), and largely depends on his coaching as a former marine and professional boxer, an athlete on the peak of human energy and agility that additionally occurs to be a talented pilot and driver, in addition to skilled in lengthy and shut vary fight in a wide range of types. It appears the present will at the very least draw on each Marc’s background and a supernatural ingredient—a number of instances we see the Marc persona emerge in a violent state of affairs within the trailer, and there’s one shot of the Moon Knight go well with itself magically wrapping itself round him, so there’s at the very least some ingredient of superhuman means at play.

Who’s Ethan Hawke Playing?

Hawke’s character—who we solely know goes to be an antagonist within the collection—is left unnamed for his temporary look within the trailer, outdoors of an ominous warning telling Marc to “Embrace the Chaos.” But closed captioning confirms the character’s identify as Arthur Harrow, a very obscure Marvel pull.

Harrow has appeared in a single comedian to this point—the second difficulty of the aforementioned Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu miniseries in 1985. A physician specializing in ache idea, Harrow suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia, paralyzing the left facet of his face and leaving him in fixed ache. When it was found that Harrow was secretly experimenting on human take a look at topics with a view to try to discover a treatment for his sickness, desensitizing them to any degree of horrific ache, Moon Knight tried to cease Harrow, however the scientist escaped, by no means to be seen once more. Just how a lot of this background will likely be used within the present nonetheless, stays to be seen—Moon Knight might merely be utilizing Harrow’s identify on a completely completely different interpretation of the character, which wouldn’t be a primary for the MCU.

What Does Moon Knight Actually Do?

He’s… effectively, as beforehand acknowledged, he’s mainly Marvel’s reply to Batman. An evening time defender of the weak and a vengeful warrior who depends on concern and intimidation, Moon Knight has lengthy been one of many writer’s most well-known and darkest “street-level” heroes. But each within the comics and probably within the MCU itself, Moon Knight represents a connection between that largely-grounded space of superheroics—in a lot as something in comics might be largely-grounded—and the supernatural Marvel universe.

Moon Knight has been a member of the Defenders, an occasional Avenger, and a part of smaller teams just like the Marvel Knights or the Midnight Sons—and because the MCU appears to be like to flesh out this smaller-scale sided of its universe going ahead, Moon Knight as a personality is an opportunity to hyperlink that world to the supernatural and magical components we’ve lately been seeing performed with in WandaVision or the upcoming Doctor Strange within the Multiverse of Madness (which is able to debut simply after Moon Knight begins streaming). Plus, given the horror-tinged tone being explored with Isaac’s Spector, it’s a possibility to offered a unique lens on that mystical, magical nook of the MCU… with much more bloody fist fights alongside the best way.

Moon Knight begins streaming on Disney+ beginning March 30.

Wondering the place our RSS feed went? You can decide the brand new up one right here.