With Moon Knight now streaming on Disney+, Marvel fans not only got their first look at the live-action version the comic book hero, but also of the Egyptian deity who grants Moon Knight his powers: Khonshu. In the comics, Moon Knight is a “high priest” of Khonshu, who over the centuries has chosen a human avatar to do his bidding on earth. The mercenary Marc Spector (played by Oscar Isaac in the Disney+ series) has been the most prominent vessel for Khonshu in the comics. After a desert mission let Spector for dead, he was revived by the diety and began serving as his protector of the night.
Here’s how the Marvel Database describes Khonshu’s current iteration in the comics:
Khonshu is the nocturnal “God of the Moon”, “God of Vengeance” and the “Shepherd of to the Lost”. He was described as the “Greatest God of the Great Gods”. He represented the Moon, a universal symbol for the redemptive power of insubordination, femininity and sensitivity. He was protector of travellers in the night and guardian of travellers through time. He was a member of the Heliopolitan race of gods who lived in the extradimensional realm of Celestial Heliopolis adjacent to Earth and was worshipped by the people of Ancient Egypt.
A couple of things are going to jump out at MCU fans: Namely time-travel and the extradimensional realm business, which sounds a whole lot like the multiverse that’s been making its presence know in Marvel’s Phase 4 slate. As for whether the live-action version of Khonshu will explore those concepts remains to be seen yet. For now, he’s appeared briefly in the Moon Knight series during a terrifying scene where he attempts to rein in Steven Grant, one of Marc Spector’s split personalities.
However, Khonshu was heard several times during the episode. The disembodied voice calling Steven an “idiot” and telling him to protect the scarab from Ethan Hawke‘s Arthur Harrow? That was F. Murray Abraham as the Egyptian god. In true Marvel style, the live-action version of Khonshu will apparently have a little more… personality than in the comics, and frankly, we’re here for it.
Moon Knight is available for streaming on Disney+
