Moon Knight (Marc Spector)

In the name of the moon, he'll punish you! Clad in the ceremonial armor of Khonshu's ceremonial warriors throughout the centuries, Marc Spector is Moon Knight, sworn to obey Khonshu and deliver his vengeance accordingly. Back in the '70s, Marvel and Toei Animation partnered to create cartoon adaptations for the Japanese market. The only thing that actually came of it was Yami no Teio Kyuketsuki Dracula, an adaptation of Marvel's Tomb of Dracula comic released on VHS in America by Harmony Gold as Dracula: Sovereign Of The Damned. (The two companies' live-action collaboration went over much better.) The second cartoon they were working on was one based on Moon Knight, because he shared a vague visual similarity to a Japan's first TV tokusatsu, the wildly popular Moonlight Mask. Toei created a design for the character, but the series never happened (though a tie-in comic was released). And so it is that Disney+'s Moon Knight was the character's first series. The MCU initially tried to keep everything grounded (at least, in the sense of "fantasy is when the technology the characters use is magic and sci-fi is when the magic the characters use is technology"), but thankfully that was long in the dust by the time Moon Knight came around. Even more than the comics, Moon Knight is an apologetically mystic, with Marc Spector not (merely) having mental issues, but literally being empowered by a god. Part of that was the costume - writer Jeremy Slater said they felt it would be ridiculous for Marc to always have to go get his costume when he needed it, so having it appear out of nowhere was the solution. The design was brilliant, really underscoring Moon Knight's status as an Egyptian-mythology-based hero: taking inspiration from Alex Ross' art for Universe X #6, what the comics usually treat as a plain white costume is here more like mummy wrappings, with separate strips wrapped around him and tying his moon symbol to his breastplate. His belt also calls to mind the shendyt loincloth familiar from ancient art, and there are silver hieroglyphs on his thighs. Truly outstanding design, one the best the movies have done, and we can't wait to see it be adapted back into the comics! Marc's wearing his giant cape, which is a pain to get out of the tray, and also means he won't look right in some poses. Like, you can't have him jumping across rooftops if his cape is just drifting down gently behind him, right? The figure moves at the ankles, knees, thighs, hips, wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, chest, and neck, which is an average amount for Marvel Legends. The hood is separate from the rest of the cape, so it will move with the head instead of getting in its way. The figure may not come with a bunch of random bullcrap to throw at his enemies, but he does have two golden moon blades - his "Crescent Darts" - that he can hold in his hands. Considering he seems to magically pull them out of the symbol on his chest, you'd expect them to be that size, not twice as large, but again: "magic." They're not two of the same sculpt, because the backs are shaped to allow them to plug together into one solid piece. You can also swap his hands for fists if you want. Moon Knight is the one figure in this series to not include an Infinity Ultron BAF part, so that's all we get in the package. Moon Knight is a special entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in that its review bombing was because it acknowledged the Armenian Genocide happened, rather than because it starred a woman. Now that's a blow for equality! Moon Knight was cooler and more interesting in a brief six episodes than he's ever really been in the comics, so it's exciting to get this Marvel Legend, even without a piece of the Build-A-Figure. -- 01/07/23

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