The sophomore episode of the Moon Knight has added new details to the story of the sixth TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans discovered more about the life of Steven Grant, who is far from being just a mere mild-mannered gift-shop employee. Grant suffers from a dissociative identity disorder as he shares a body with the fearless mercenary Marc Spector, the first live-action adaptation of the character created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin in 1975. Grant’s destiny is also deeply tied to Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the Moon, who has some unsolved business with humanity. The latest installment in the series featured the debut of Mr. Knight, in addition to introducing some more pivotal characters.
Let’s now see who Mr. Knight is and why he is essential to the MCU.
I’m Mr. Knight, I (Almost) Solve Problems
Since introducing the MCU, Marvel Studios often opted to give a different background story to their characters. While Grant was just the millionaire playboy alter ego of Spector in the comics, he is just a whimsical employee in the live-action series. In the story, he shares his body with Spector, the possessor of a precious beetle scarab that everyone seems to want. Episode 2 introduces Layla, Marc’s wife, who is very surprised to discover that her husband has completely lost all their life memories together. When Steven is forcefully invited to present himself in front of Arthur Harrow, Layla attempts to save him by exchanging the scarab for Steven’s life. The exchange doesn’t go according to plans, and Steven and Layla find themself clashing with a monster at the orders of Arthur.
The sticky situation forces Steven to dig deep into himself and summon a white business suit matching a white mask, transforming into Mr. Knight and acquiring superpowers. The suit is very different from the caped one fans saw at the end of the series premiere. While Mr. Knight didn’t defeat the demon, he proved that he possesses quite an overhand as he knocked down his foe for a while.
The white suit and tie made its first appearance in Secret Avengers Vol. 1, Issue #19 before it officially returned in the first issue of 2014’s Volume 7 of the Moon Knight comic series, thanks to Warren Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey. Unlike the former heavyweight boxer and U.S. Marine Moon Knight, Mr. Knight relies on his intellect more than his combat skills, even though he possesses a certain knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. Mr. Knight has also been very keen to collaborate with authorities to solve crimes and lock the bad guys away.
Dead or Alive?
After Grant realizes that Mr. Knight isn’t enough to stop the monster, he lets Spector take control. Shortly after transforming into Moon Knight and killing his foe, Spector decides that it’s better to keep the body for himself and restrains Grant into a part of his mind. He then has a chat with Khonshu, who closely watched the fight between his avatar and the monster. During their conversation, Khonshu recalls Spector about their agreement and that he was nothing more than a corpse when Khonshu found him years ago.
The chat implies that Spector died somewhere in the past and Khonshu someway revived him. In doing so, the Egyptian god ended up owning Spector’s body and decisions. Once again, it seems that death is not permanent in the MCU and fans might expect familiar faces to pop up from time to time even though they’re officially dead.
Did you like the first live-action appearance of Mr. Knight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
