After the tragic sacrificial death of Moon Knight, his friends and colleagues of the Midnight Mission continued his cause of protecting those who wander through the night… until a new, violent Moon Knight emerged. With this false Moon Knight revealed to be former West Coast Avenger the Shroud and Marc Spector brought back to life as the Fist of Khonshu, the two Knights will now do battle in Vengeance of the Moon Knight #8.

With the Shroud – often viewed as a cheap rip-off of Daredevil or Batman – incapacitated due to Varnae’s vampiric influence on Darkforce users, how Max Coleridge will return to his fake role as Moon Knight is yet to be revealed.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #8, from writer Jed MacKay and artist Devmalya Pramanik, will see Marc Spector’s official return as Moon Knight – with an epic new costume – as he duels the pretender to the Moon Knight moniker, depicted in a gorgeous cover from Davide Paratore.

Moon Knight Versus Moon Knight Will Decide The True Fist Of Khonshu

It’s Marc Spector against his violent Shroud

The Shroud, or Max Coleridge, is a powerful Darkforce user trained by the Cult of Kali who has a long career as a mentally unstable antihero… very similar to Moon Knight’s journey. The Shroud infiltrated criminal circles by pretending to be one himself, creating a group called the Night Shift where he tricked criminals into acting as vigilantes, and even attempted to get Marc Spector to lead the group at one point. Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5 revealed that Max Coleridge, who had donned an all-black Moon Knight costume, was determined to replace Marc Spector after his death because he wanted to follow a similar path as the superhero.

Sick of being seen as crazy and dangerous Max convinced himself he could change by pretending to be Moon Knight, until Tigra helped him realize he needed to get help. After accepting Greer’s offer of help the Shroud was suddenly overcome by the Darkforce, painfully forced to emit the energy to block out the sun for the vampires’ assault in Blood Hunt. The Shroud will seemingly recover after the events of Blood Hunt, but it is still unclear why he and Moon Knight would be fighting. Since Max seemed to accept his mistakes after his battle with Tigra and Hunter’s Moon it doesn’t make much sense, but hopefully, it will be revealed that their duel is a simple misunderstanding.

Shroud Would Make A Strong Member Of The Midnight Mission

Max Coleridge has always been a fascinating antihero

Ideally, Moon Knight’s battle with the Shroud will end with the damaged but heroic man joining Spector’s Midnight Mission, just like Hunter’s Moon did after initially trying to kill Moon Knight. At the end of the day, the Shroud has no real connection to Khonshu so is Moon Knight only in name and costume, meaning he could never truly be a Fist of Khonshu. The Shroud’s dark past, mental struggles, and incredible powers align well with the Midnight Mission’s goals and team members, and he would be a strong and intriguing addition to the Mission.

The Shroud is a tragic and fascinating character whose past, struggles, and hopes mirror Moon Knight’s in many ways, which prompted the Darkforce user to impersonate the hero. Hopefully, the battle of the two Moon Knights will end with Max Coleridge joining the Midnight Mission, or at least getting therapy from the Mission’s resident psychologist Dr. Andrea Sterman.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #8 from Marvel Comics debuts on August 14th, 2024.