Moon Knight returns this July with a new mission in a brand new ongoing series from writer Jed MacKay and artist Alessandro Cappuccio, who will be making his Marvel Comics debut.
Moon Knight has been a perennial fan-favorite since his introduction in 1975’s Werewolf by Night #32. He is Marc Spector, a soldier for hire who, when left for dead in the Egyptian desert, has a vision of the god Khonshu, who makes Spector his instrument of vengeance on Earth. Spector would return to the States and embark on a career as Moon Knight. He has disassociative identity disorder, with two other distinct personalities: Mark Grant, a millionaire playboy; and Jake Lockley, a cab driver. He has been a member of the Avengers at various times and came into conflict with the team recently during the “Age of Khonshu” story, during which he attempted to steal each of the Avengers’ powers, as part of Khonshu’s multiversal crusade against Mephisto. The Avengers were successful in turning back a now mad Khonshu, leaving him powerless and broken at the end of the storyline.
A press release from Marvel indicates the new book will pick up the threads left dangling at the end of “Age of Khonshu.” Even with Khonshu out of the picture, Moon Knight still has a duty to protect the innocent. He has now become the caretaker of the Midnight Mission, doling out vengeance on anyone who would harm the Mission’s people. The press release quoted MacKay as saying he was “excited” to work on the character, calling him one of Marvel’s “biggest messes.” Artist Cappuccio called Moon Knight one of his “favorite” characters and said it was a “dream come true” to illustrate him; he would go on to praise MacKay’s scripts.
Over the past 46 years, Moon Knight has been a favorite of fans and creators alike and writers and artists such as Brian Michael Bendis, Jeff Lemire and Max Bemis have taken a shot at the character, each bringing their own unique spin to Moon Knight’s mythology. MacKay’s approach takes the character and reframes him, in the press release’s words, as “a renegade priest of an unworthy god.” MacKay and Cappuccio are taking some of the character’s best aspects and forging a new path for him.
Moon Knight will make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut later this year, in a Disney Plus show, where he will be played by Oscar Isaac, but in the meantime, fans both old and new can read his adventures in Moon Knight #1 on sale in print and digital July 7, with a cover by Steve McNiven.
Source: Marvel