Moon Knight Explained: Powers And Origin | Craziest Avenger?

Marvel has confirmed Moon Knight's own TV series on Disney+ and we can't be more excited to see this awesome Marvel hero join the MCU. But what sets Moon Knight apart from the other Avengers and makes him one hell of a character are his delusions and unprecedented craziness. If you think DC's Joker is crazy which without doubt he is. Then meet Marvel's Moon Knight, who I think is best defined as the sum of Batman and Joker. Yeah, that's right. Imagine a character who is as stoic as Batman and at the same time as insane as Joker. That's Moon Knight for you.

Over the years Moon Knight has been compared more to DC's Batman than the Joker. Because both the Dark Knight and Moon Knight are wealthy individuals and have no superpowers of their and thus rely on technology and gadgets to fight crime. Here you might say isn't that same with Tony Stark. Ya, well it is. But let's just say Moon Knight's armor is not as versatile and capable as Iron Man's. And it's not his armor that makes him who he is. Rather it is his multiple personality disorder. This guy might have even a severe personality disorder than Bruce Banner. And it is this mental disorder of his that makes him so interesting. For example just consider the fact that at one point he had three new personalities based on Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America. And yes all these three existed at the same time. Who wouldn't love to see all the characters wrapped into one? Well Heck, at one point he even seems to have developed the personality of Tony Stark himself. So if you are praying for Tony to return to the MCU. Moon Knight is kind of your best bet. But Moon Knight wasn't always the same. 

Like any other character, he too has an origin story. Before he took over the avatar of Moon Knight, he was a guy named Marc Spector who gained his superhuman powers as a result of a visitation by an Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Moon Knight's strength, endurance, and reflexes are enhanced depending upon the phases of the moon. The fuller the moon, the more strength Moon Knight derives from it. But at some unspecified point in time Moon Knight is thought to have lost these powers and he is said to return to being a normal human being like Batman who is an expert at hand-to-hand combat techniques and martial arts such as boxing, kung fu, judo, karate, ninjutsu, savate, and Muay Thai. Moon Knight is an Olympic-level athlete and he is a genius strategist. Give him enough prep time and he will figure things out.

Again just like the Batman. Moon Knight employs a variety of weapons over the course of his career. He is skilled with most weapons and an expert with throwing weapons and he is also a superb driver and pilot. Taskmaster, who has the ability to copy anyone's fighting style, and who is confirmed to make his MCU debut in the upcoming Black Widow movie, has at one point said that he prefers not to copy Moon Knight's style, as Moon Knight would rather take a punch than block it. And it is because of things like this that I say Moon Knight also has the insanity of the Joker. 

Due to his multiple personalities, he is also resistant to some psychic attacks and sometimes receives prophetic visions. Moon Knight is also shown to possess a very high tolerance for pain such as ignoring a crossbow bolt fired into his shoulder by Taskmaster as well as when he receives a bullet, he acts as if it's another Tuesday for him. At one point a mutant who had the powers to analyze and predict the actions of anyone he observes claimed that his abilities do not function correctly on Moon Knight and he said that Marc is so crazy that his powers won't work on him.

Some people believe that the Egyptian God that gave him powers when he became the Moon Knight wasn't really in the first place and it was just Marc's mind playing games with him. And it was his delusions that made him think that the God Konshu was real. Actually, before he became the Moon Knight he went to Egypt on some Archaeological expedition and there is injured badly in a fight. The Egyptians who worshipped the ancient gods found him and carried him to their temple. Helpless before the statue of God Khonshu, Spector's heart stopped. Khonshu appeared to him in a vision, offering Spector a second chance at life if he becomes the god's avatar on Earth. Spector awakens, wraps himself in the silver shroud that covered God's statue, and decides to become a crimefighter when he returns back to the US he creates himself a silver costume, based on the silver shroud that he got in that temple, and becomes Moon Knight aka "The Fist of Khonshu".

The material of Moon Knight's costume has changed over the years. At one point his silver-white costume included adamantium for greater protection. And at one point in time, he could suit up by the use of a remote control device which assembled the individual pieces of this armor onto his body, just like Iron Man's armor in the Movie Avengers and Iron Man 3.

Spector was not born wealthy like Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. Rather he earned his fortune as the mercenary and invested that money to develop a fortune and to distance himself from his mercenary past, he creates the identity of millionaire Steven Grant. But to remain in contact with the street and criminal element, he also creates the identity of taxicab driver Jake Lockley, So you see Moon Knight operates in various modes dictated by his fractured personalities. And this convoluted personality disorder makes him one hell of a character as you never know what he is truly up to.

With that, we will bring this article to an end. Let me know your thoughts in the comment and don't forget to follow for more upcoming content.