Moon Knight is easily one of the very best characters that exist within Marvel Comics, but he hasn't been immune to a major change or two over the years. The fan-favorite hero is largely considered Marvel's answer to Batman and, for years, was seen as one of the biggest characters to have never been adapted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which, of course, all changed when Oscar Isaac brought the character to the MCU in 2022 Disney Plus series Moon Knight).
The near-five years since that debut haven't exactly been smoooth-sailing for the Fisk of Khonshu as the studio has reworked plans to bring him back multiple times. However, they have been far less smooth-sailing for the original version of the character, who has had to contend with some crazy developments in the wicked world of Marvel Comics.
And yes, that includes getting replaced for a significant portion of time.
Marvel replaced Moon Knight after his death with a dark, evil pretender
Despite Moon Knight being at the height of his mainstream popularity in the early 2020s (largely due to the success of the MCU TV series), Marvel Comics made the shocking decision to kill him off at the end of 2023. Yes, Marc Spector died when he sacrificed himself to prevent a massive explosion at the hands of the Black Spectre. It took place in Moon Knight No. 30 and served as the culmination of the "Last Days of Moon Knight" storyline.
In the aftermath of his demise, the Midnight Mission organization carried on his work. A heroic community of protectors set up by Marc to help defend the vulnerable from supernatural threats, it was a way for Marc to move on from being the rage-fuelled Fist of Khonshu to actually helping people that needed more than a violent defender. They were effectively his true replacement as the carried on his legacy and all that he stood for. However, an imposter entered the chat soon after and tried to destroy that legacy.
Maximillian Coleridge, a former West Coast Avenger and user of the Darkforce, ended up claiming Khonshu's gifts for himself, donning an inverted, all-dark Moon Knight suit and starting his own misguided, menacing version of that mission. He very quickly began undoing a lot of the progress that Moon Knight had made, targetting the Midnight Mission and resorting to extreme violence in his acts. It was everything that Marc Spector had turned against, and a potential desecration of his legacy.
The good news is that Marc eventually returned from the dead (as characters often do in the world of Marvel Comics... and comic books in general!) as Khonshu resurrected his former champions in Blood Hunt, leading to the re-emergence of the original Moon Knight (with some impressive new powers, too). A showdown between the OG and the pretender was inevitable and it finally went down in Vengeance of the Moon Knight No. 8.
Needless to say, Marc decisively won the battle, dispatching the pretender and reclaiming the mantle as the Fist of Khonshu once and for all. Although Khonshu wanted The Shroud dead, Marc temporarily fulfilled that contract by pummelling him until his heart stopped and ultimately reviving him. It was a sign that Moon Knight was still the more recent version of himself capable of growth, knowing when to draw and line and still capable of outsmarting Khonshu when he needs to.
Marc Spector has risen from the dead about as much as The Undertaker and it proves that he has remained one of Marvel Comics' most enduring characters. The only question is: Will he ever be back on our screens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or will the beloved movie and TV franchise go about replacing him over there, too? It's complicated.
The MCU's Moon Knight is finally expected to return in "the Mutants Era"
As Moon Knight continues to remain an overarching presence in the pages of Marvel Comics (despite his intermittent replacements), it's naturally frustrating that the MCU hasn't been able to recreate that success. The 2022 Disney Plus series was extremely well-received and the mysteries that Marc Spector, his alternate personalities Steven Grant and Jake Lockley, and Khonshu himself explored were thoroughly compelling, gripping viewers throughout its six-week run. So why has it been a whole five years? Excellent question.
Like many of the heroes and villains in the MCU's Multiverse Saga, the overly expansive nature of the story has resulted in long, drawn-out gaps between each character's return - something that simply wasn't an issue in the more movies-specific, condensed Infinity Saga. It will be over five years since Shang-Chi's debut before his eventual return in this year's Avengers: Doomsday, so the wait for Moon Knight's comeback is going to be even longer than that (unless he manages to cameo in Doomsday or its upcoming sequel Avengers: Secret Wars).
Another major reason for the delay has been the studio's shifting priorities due to the mixed reception of the Multiverse Saga. Its plans for TV changed after the colossal failure that was Secret Invasion while film failures like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels forced restructuring on that side of things too. Although Oscar Isaac has been very upfront about wanting to return (even suggesting a second season of the show at one point), it sounds like Moon Knight season 2 isn't on the table right now.
Marvel Studios' Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, revealed in 2025 that the movie side of the studio has plans for him, so a second season isn't doable. Plans for Marvel TV then shifted to more lower-cost, multi-season productions instead (with more recent reports now claiming that the studio is cutting back on the Disney Plus shows almost entirely) so we, as fans, won't really know much until the Multiverse Saga concludes and the next one begins. And that's where things get interesting.
That next saga, which is expected to be centred around the Mutants / X-Men, is expected to have a secondary focus on supernatural characters, meaning that the likes of Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, and perhaps even Blade will get the focus we've been waiting for them to get. Reports have also claimed that all of these characters would come together in a potential Midnight Sons movie. And recent developments suggest that those rumors may well be true.
Ryan Gosling has officially joined the MCU in the role of Ghost Rider and he is set to lead his own Ghost Rider movie in 2028. That film is scheduled to be the second film in the "Mutants Era" (after X-Men) and it could very well pave the way for the reintroductions of the MCU's supernatural characters - perhaps even setting the stage for the Midnight Sons crossover we have been waiting for.
Here's hoping that is the case because it has been far too long since Moon Knight has made his presence felt. If we have learned anything from Marvel Comics, it's that Marc Spector doesn't stay down for long. It's time that the MCU remembers that, too!
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters on December 18, 2026.
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