Comic Book / Moon Knight (2014)

"I'm not real."

"You Are My Son"

—Khonshu

In 2012, Marvel Comics launched Marvel NOW!, an initiative that saw the relaunch of various titles. In 2014, Moon Knight joined the lineup with his own relaunch, starting with a six-issue run written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Declan Shalvey that would very quickly be considered one of the most definitive runs on the character.

After the events of Brian Michael Bendis's run, Marc Spector has returned to New York City to continue his role as Khonshu's Fist and protect travelers of the night. Operating more independently than ever before, Marc has taken on the newest persona of "Mr. Knight", a Badass in a Nice Suit who works as a "concerned citizen" aiding New York's police.

A series of seemingly disconnected one-off adventures, Ellis and Shalvey's run worked to establish a new status quo for Moon Knight, ridding him of his past supporting characters by showing that his life as Khonshu's faithful warrior has destroyed his relationships with the likes of Marlene and Frenchie, and that there is nothing left for him but going out to fight ghosts, mercenaries, supervillains, slashers, etc. at the behest of a god that has fractured his mind.

The initial six issue run was followed by (and possibly was leading to) another six issue run by writer Brian Wood and artist Greg Smallwood. This run took a more traditional approach and had a running story arc about Marc's therapist attempting to co-opt Khonshu from him. Following Wood's run, Cullen Bunn took over and the series returned to the done-in-one storytelling style Ellis and Shalvey worked with, eventually ending with a seventeenth issue.

Ever since this run, the Mr. Knight persona has become a permanent fixture of the character, and makes an appearance in the Disney+ Moon Knight series.

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Moon Knight (2014) provides examples of:

• Alternate Company Equivalent: Mr. Knight comes across as one for Mr. A.
• Ambiguous Situation: It isn't clearly shown in the sixth issue if Moon Knight actually finished off Black Spectre with one of his darts, or did he rather deflect one of his darts, that Black Spectre threw in a moment of desperation. Regardless, this iteration of the villain doesn't return until Jed Mackay's run.
• Arc Words: Ellis's run had "Not good enough" and "the one you see coming."
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Warren Ellis' run introduces the "Mister Knight"◊ persona, which wears a snazzy white suit. The shading, however, makes sure that we are well aware that he is... just a bit out there.
• Becoming the Mask:
  Scarlet: Your face.
  Mr. Knight: It's a mask.
  Scarlet: It's not a mask. It's your face.
  Mr. Knight: Smart kid.
• Black Comedy: The Warren Ellis run has a lot of this.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Ellis/Shalvey run ends on this note, despite the lack of an overarching storyline. The sixth issue shows how far Marc has fallen; he's driven away most of his friends who are now living happier and content lives without him and he lives a life devoid of loved ones. He earns yet another victory by defeating the new Black Spectre, but as he walks away into the night, it's obvious that he is not living a happy life as Khonshu's Fist.
• Book Ends: Ellis and Shalvey's run begins and ends with overviews of Moon Knight's backstory.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Issue 1 makes several to Brian Michael Bendis's run, from his stint in Los Angeles to the mostly unexplained development of his alters being Captain America, Wolverine, and Spider-Man.
  • Issue 5 is named after and features a young girl named Scarlet who seems to know more about Moon Knight than apparent, with heavy implications that she's Stained Glass Scarlet reincarnated.
  • Issue 6 references events from all previous five issues.
  • Cullen Bunn's tenure moves Moon Knight's base of operations to the abandoned hotel from Issue 5.
  • Issue 14 references Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight's old rival.
• Demonic Possession: The interpretation of Spector's Split Personality here.
  Psychiatrist: You're not insane. Your brain has been colonized by an ancient consciousness from beyond space-time. Smile.
• The Dog Bites Back: Issue 14 concerns Moon Knight investigating a pack of dogs that are trained to kill wealthy people. He eventually finds out that they are abused by a junkyard owner with a chip on his shoulder, and lets the dogs loose to tear their cruel owner apart.
• Foil: Some of the run's villains are reflections of Marc.
  • The Slasher. He and Marc were soldiers horribly injured on the field and both were in some ways resurrected; Marc because of Khonshu and the Slasher from mundane medicine and surgery. Both Came Back Wrong, but while Marc used his resurrection to dedicate himself to protecting innocents, the Slasher was embittered and became a Serial Killer who tried to improve himself by grafting organs and muscles to his own body.
  • The Sniper. Much like Marc, he was presumed killed and left for dead by those he thought his allies. While Marc's vengeance against Bushman was righteous and protected innocents from further harm, the Sniper killed his targets who have long retired to normal lives and started families. Marc took his revenge out on a genuine monster while the Sniper killed those who were no longer threats and were just pawns to a larger more corrupt system than a simple sadistic murderer.
• Foreshadowing: Before The Reveal that the dream phenomenon in Issue #4 is because of a corpse's sporulated brain, Dr. Skelton mentions the room where the corpse is buried in is damp, and the door outside shows that mold is spreading from within the room.
• God in Human Form: Ellis' interpretation of Spector: Marc was remade in Khonshu's image after his death, to be the god's latest avatar in the mortal world.
  Khonshu: YOU ARE MY SON.
• Hallway Fight: Issue 5 has Mr. Knight fighting his way through an entire brownstone house to rescue a kidnapped girl, including several hallways.
• I Just Want to Be Special: One of the cops in issue #1 becomes a villain because he's upset Moon Knight is special and he gets no respect. He ends up becoming the new Black Spectre.
• I Work Alone: His car and aircraft are all run by autopilots and he has no one else at his base.
  Mr Knight: People who love me suffer and die. I never want to be loved. That's why I always win.
• Mind Screwdriver: Ellis's run tries to put the Mind Screw aspects of Spector going completely insane in Brian Michael Bendis' previous Moon Knight run in terms of Spector's relation to Khonshu.
• Protectorate: In this run, Marc specifically becomes protector of "those who travel by night", reflecting his status as an aspect of the moon god Khonshu.
• Put on a Bus:
  • Marlene and Frenchie appear specifically to explain that they are on the bus and hoping to stay as far away from Marc as possible.
  • Steven Grant and Jake Lockley have been reduced to ghostly figures hanging about in Marc's empty mansion. With his new status quo as a loner, Marc no longer has any use for their respective individual purposes like before.
  • The Iron Man and Echo alters Marc develops at the end of Bendis's run are never acknowledged
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Moon Knight gives one to the new Black Spectre about his predecessor, followed by a Badass Boast peppered with Heroic Self-Deprecation.
  Moon Knight: Let me tell you a thing about Black Spectre. He really just wanted to be loved. By his dad, his wife, his crew, the whole city... I don't know you. Let me tell you a thing about me. People who love me suffer and die. I never want to be loved. That's why I always win.
• Story Arc: The Ellis/Shalvey and Bunn runs actually defy this in favor of adventures that are finished within one issue. In a departure, Brian Wood's run features a running storyline about Elsa Warsame attempting to obtain Khonshu so she can enact revenge on an African warlord.
• Touché: Mr. Knight's reaction when the Slasher points out that, as a man in an all-white suit wearing a bag over his head, he's not really in any position to be judgmental of a mutilated serial killer with body parts haphazardly attached to him.
• Warrior Monk: Bunn's run emphasized this, repeatedly referring to Marc as Khonshu's head priest. The final issue concerns a sect of Khonshu's worshippers treating Marc as a messiah.
• We Can Rule Together: The followers of the Raptor Goddess were apparently assured by her that Marc would completely be on their side, which ends up becoming very untrue when Moon Knight takes them down for attempting to abduct sacrifices.
• We Used to Be Friends: Marlene and Frenchie make it very clear they have and want nothing to do with Spector anymore. Marc is ok with that, because as he mentions, everyone that loves him ends up hurt.
• Wham Line: After slaying a boogyman type creature who would slaughter children in their sleep in Issue 15, Marc hears the dying monster whispering something.
  Creature: Why have you forsaken me, Khonshu?
• Whole-Plot Reference: Issue 5 is a big love letter to The Raid Redemption.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Mr. Knight is impressed with the zoot suit mook who manages to deflect one of his moon darts with his knife.
  • The first Black Spectre appears to have become this for Moon Knight in retrospect, as he explains his motivations with a great hint of sympathy while verbally smacking down his successor Ryan Trent.

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