He may be the Fist of Khonshu and the protector of those who travel in the night, but Moon Knight is also known for his distinctive costumes throughout the years. From his earliest appearance, Marc Spector has consistently changed up his look, never settling on just one superhero outfit for any lengthy period of time.
Making his debut in 1975's Werewolf by Night #32, Moon Knight was created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin. Before he became a costumed hero, Marc Spector was mercenary who was betrayed by his colleagues and left for dead in the deserts of Egypt. Before dying, Spector stumbled before a statue of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, who resurrected the mercenary and made him the “Fist of Khonshu,” making Moon Knight a warrior in the Egyptian god’s service. Donning an eerie white costume, Spector fights to protect the innocent and mete out justice as the Moon Knight.
Early stories saw Spector adopt different disguises to help in his quest, although more recent stories have attributed this to the character being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Sometimes, Moon Knight’s changes in costume are caused by one of his different personalities manifesting, as seen in the recent Disney+ Moon Knight TV series. Moon Knight’s various looks in the comics are wide and varied, and definitely worthy of further examination. Let’s take a look at the history of Moon Knight’s costume throughout the years:
The Fist of Khonshu
Moon Knight’s first appearance in Werewolf by Night #32 is a little different from what many might consider his “classic” look. That first costume leaned heavily into black-and-white chiaroscuro with the bodysuit being black and his gloves, boots and cloak being the ghostly white most fans associate with the hero. It’s clearly a “rough draft” of what would eventually become Moon Knight, although the distinctive silhouette of the character was established right from the jump, with a pair of glowing eyes buried beneath the hooded cloak leaving quite the impression.
His classic all-white costume followed in the next decade, as soon as the character began starring in his own ongoing series, and remained largely unchanged throughout this initial run. This is perhaps Moon Knight’s most iconic look—ask any Marvel Comics fan to close their eyes and picture the character, and they’ll likely describe this costume.
All Armored Up With No Place To Go
After the cancelation of his ongoing series in 1984, Moon Knight was brought back the following year for a six-issue miniseries. And with the arrival of the new series, the hero got a slightly-updated costume. While there were no drastic changes, Moon Knight was given golden armor pieces, with new wrist bangles, metal shin guards and a golden belt all serving to break up the white of Spector’s costume. Perhaps the most significant alteration was the change in chest symbol — instead of Moon Knight’s classic crescent moon logo, the new outfit boasted a golden ankh symbol. Spector would wear this outfit in Moon Knight's subsequent appearances in West Coast Avengers, but it wasn’t too long before the classic all-white look returned.
When the ‘90s rolled around, many heroes traded in their classic costumes for new, “extreme” armored looks, and Moon Knight was no different. To hold his own against the heavily armed vigilantes of the day, Moon Knight donned a new armored battle-suit. He kept his cloak, hood and overall crescent moon motif, but the all-white spandex of his previous look was replaced with silver shoulder pads, wrist gauntlets and heavy boots. The armored look came and went pretty quickly, although Moon Knight would reveal another suit of armor in the later Vengeance of Moon Knight #5. Made of carbonadium, Moon Knight could actually step out of this armor and still control it remotely.
Meet Mr. Knight
The 2000s saw another back-to-basics approach for Moon Knight, as he briefly returned to wearing a variation on his original black-and-white outfit before settling once more into his classic all-white costume. However, Moon Knight’s biggest costume change in decades occurred in the pages of Secret Avengers, where the character debuted his “Mr. Knight” look, an all-white three-piece suit worn in conjunction with his mask.
This outfit was further elaborated upon in the 2014 Moon Knight series, where the Mr. Knight persona is established as a police consultant helping out with bizarre street-level crimes. Moon Knight also gets an updated superhero costume, combining the older black-and-white and armored looks to create an outfit more in line with modern superhero design. In addition, Moon Knight dons yet another outfit for special occasions, an armor made up of Khonshu-related artifacts; most notably a giant bird skull that Moon Knight wears over his mask. Known as his “Ghost Ripper” armor, Moon Knight dons this special suit to help him fight non-corporeal enemies such as ghosts and other spirits.
In the Multiverse of Moon Knight
In addition to the various costume changes the character has had in the main continuity of the Marvel Universe, Moon Knight has also had differing looks across the larger Marvel Multiverse. One of the most prominent is the Moon Knight appearing in the Ultimate universe, who made his debut in Ultimate Spider-Man #79. His costume is relatively the same as the main universe version, although this Moon Knight typically doesn’t wear the hood on his cloak, which has a wide collar stretching over the length of his shoulders. Ultimate Moon Knight also adopted other costumes based on heroes, like when he donned the Ronin outfit to infiltrate the Kingpin’s organization.
Another version stems from an alternate future, and is actually the daughter of Moon Knight, Jessica Spector. This Moon Knight made her first appearance in 2002’s Marvel Knights: Millenial Visions, which sees Jessica inherit her father’s mantle after he dies. Jessica’s outfit is perhaps the one that strays the most from the traditional Moon Knight costume. Taking inspiration from Moon Knight’s West Coast Avengers days, Jessica wears golden gauntlets and boots, and uses an ankh for her symbol instead of a crescent moon. Jessica’s mask is also different, as it leaves her nose and mouth uncovered.
Another future version of Moon Knight made his debut this year in the pages of Spider-Man 2099: Exodus. Differing from previous Moon Knights that have been seen in this timeline, this Moon Knight joins Spider-Man’s 2099 New Avengers to fight against a reformed Masters of Evil in the recent crossover series. This is perhaps the character’s most radical redesign yet, and he does away with the hooded mask altogether in favor of a dome-like helmet. This version also makes a slight alteration to Moon Knight’s classic crescent moon symbol, turning it upside down on both his chest and domed helmet.
Whether past, present or future, Moon Knight has established himself as a major player in the Marvel Universe. As a member of the Avengers, the Heroes for Hire and the unnamed Marvel Knights team, the character has proven his worth as a hero time and time again. As the Fist of Khonshu, there will always be a Moon Knight protecting the innocent and watching over the travelers of the night, no matter what costume he's wearing.