By On January 17, 2022, Marvel finally released the first trailer for its next Disney+ show, Moon Knight. The newest hero to enter the MCU has a history and origin many may not be aware of if they didn’t read the comics. January 27 marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and it’s fitting that a character with Jewish roots finally made his first on-screen appearance just before that.
For those who aren’t aware, Moon Knight’s alter-ego is that of Marc Spector. Marc’s father was a Rabbi that happened to be a part of a small minority of Jewish people who escaped the Holocaust. After The Moon God Knoshu chooses Marc, he discovers that a family friend and fellow Rabbi named Yitz Perlman is actually a Nazi named Ernst. Perlman is continuing to target and murder members of the Jewish community. Marc confronts his former family friend, and a fight ensues, but Perlman escapes without a trace.
Later on in his life, Marc would become a mercenary believing his father was a “coward” for escaping from the Nazis instead of fighting them head-on. This thought pattern of not wanting to be considered weak or a coward (like his father) is what genuinely set him on this path.
It isn’t until later in the comic run during Moon Knight #5 that Marc fully explores his Jewish roots through a therapy session. For most of the comics’ run, the Jewish side of Marc wasn’t mentioned at all. Once he took on the mantle of Moon Knight, he embraced the religious aspect of the God Knoshu and viewed him as a better God than his own.
The actual reasoning for this point of view was that Knoshu acts while Marc views his God as “silent” and one that does not immediately take action. Marc has a constant battle with his true faith as an internal struggle of sorts. He also admits that his God had let terrible things happen to his people, thus choosing to distance himself further and fully embrace Khonsu. At the same time, Marc also comes to terms that his father was not wrong for his choice to flee from the Nazis. In taking up the mantle of Moon Knight, Marc resorted to violence, realizing that perhaps he was the weak one all along.
The MCU is getting more and more diverse as time goes on: Black Panther and Shang-Chi are both great examples of that commitment to bringing in more characters with diverse backgrounds into the forefront. Besides Moon Knight debuting in March, we also have Ms. Marvel on the way for Disney+ this year.
Ms. Marvel follows the exploits of Kamala Khan, Marvel’s first Muslim superhero, who takes on the persona of Ms. Marvel after coming into superpowers of her own. She was a fan of Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, and wished to pay homage to her. As teased in some first looks at the new show, her cultural background will also be explored. Marvel is gearing up for an impressive roster of more diversity and inclusivity going forward in future phases, and it’s a welcome sight.
Will Marvel actually touch on heavy subjects such as The Holocaust in Moon Knight’s TV adaption? Will the show acknowledge his father at all or simply skim over it? It will be interesting to see if any mention of Marc’s past crops or if the first season will simply focus on Knonsu. It’s great to see a character with a Jewish connection but the other aspects may be left solely in the comics for now.
