Moon Knight

Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975) as a mercenary antagonist before being recast as a superhero in subsequent appearances. Moon Knight is typically portrayed as a street-level vigilante with minimal superhuman abilities, relying instead on his athletic conditioning, expert hand-to-hand combat training, and detective skills to fight crime.

The Jewish-American son of a rabbi, Marc Spector served as a Force Recon Marine before becoming a mercenary alongside his friend Jean-Paul "Frenchie" DuChamp. He is killed by the mercenary Raoul Bushman, but the Egyptian moon god Khonshu resurrects him as his avatar. Returning to the United States, Spector becomes the crimefighter Moon Knight, aided by Frenchie and archaeologist Marlene Alraune, who becomes his lover. In addition to his costumed identity, he maintains three other personas: billionaire businessman Steven Grant and taxicab driver Jake Lockley, both used to gather information, and Mr. Knight, a suited detective who consults openly with law enforcement. Multiple storylines depict Moon Knight as having dissociative identity disorder, with the Grant and Lockley alters traced back to his childhood, though other accounts attribute his multiple personalities to physical alterations made to his mind by Khonshu rather than a clinical condition.

Moon Knight received his first ongoing series in 1980, with Moench and artist Bill Sienkiewicz as the main creative team. The character has since headlined nine ongoing series and numerous limited series spanning over four decades, with notable runs by writers including Charlie Huston, Warren Ellis, Jeff Lemire, and Jed MacKay. He has also been a recurring member of teams including the West Coast Avengers and the Secret Avengers.

The character has made appearances in various media outside of comics, including animated series and video games. Oscar Isaac portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Moon Knight (2022). Moon Knight has long been regarded as a cult favorite among superhero comics readers, and commentators have frequently compared him to Batman given shared traits such as wealth, detective skills, and the use of multiple identities, though writers and critics have consistently argued that his psychological complexity, Egyptian mythology, and mercenary background distinguish him as a substantially different character.