Warning: this article contains spoilers for Moon Knight.
Moon Knight episode 6 provides a new way for Marvel Studios to introduce a new Avengers-like superhero team to the MCU. While the Avengers are still around in the current MCU timeline, it is clear Marvel is gearing up to introduce multiple new teams to the MCU. Through Moon Knight, and the show being steeped in Egyptian mythology, a new team altogether could be formed.
Phase 4 of the MCU thus far has been introducing many new characters. From movie characters such as Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo (to name a few) of Eternals, Marvel is once again expanding their roster of superpowered beings after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Marvel has also laid the groundwork for several Young Avengers members in the MCU’s Phase 4, such as Kate Bishop, Wiccan and Speed, and Patriot.
Now, with Moon Knight allowing Marvel to explore a new facet of the MCU altogether with the world of the Egyptian gods, a new team’s foundations have been set. Moon Knight tells the story of Marc Spector, a mercenary with Dissociative Identity Disorder who is the avatar of the Egyptian god of the moon: Khonshu. Throughout Moon Knight, audiences were introduced to the other avatars operating with the will of their respective Egyptian deities. It is through these avatars that the new team could be forged.
What Happened To The Egyptian Gods Avatars Explained
![Moon Knight Episode 6 Sets Up Another New MCU Avengers Team](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/marc-spector-in-moon-knight.jpg)
Moon Knight episode 6 saw Ethan Hawke’s villain, Arthur Harrow, looking to unleash Ammit, the Egyptian deity he and his cult worship. To do this, Harrow had to take her ushabti – the stone statue in which Ammit was trapped – to the Chamber of the Gods to release her. Upon entering the Pyramid, Harrow and his disciples were confronted by the other Egyptian gods’ avatars. Harrow insists that they are merely judges, not warriors, and seemingly killed each of the avatars. It is revealed later that Selim, Osiris’ avatar and leader of the Ennead survived, yet he later died in Layla’s arms before explaining how to trap Ammit. Selim’s death left only Khonshu’s avatar, Marc (and Steven) alive to confine Ammit, with Selim revealing they needed more to succeed. Upon Layla hearing this information, she willingly became Taweret’s avatar, allowing Marc and her to confine Ammit to Harrow’s body by the end of the episode, despite being the last two avatars left.
The Egyptian Gods Need New Avatars Like Khonshu & Taweret
![Khonshu Tawaret Moon Knight](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Khonshu-Tawaret-Moon-Knight.jpg)
One of the main things established in Moon Knight is that the Egyptian gods can abandon their current avatars and choose new ones at will. Now that all of the avatars of the other Egyptian gods have been killed, each will need to find a new person to take on their essence. At the end of Moon Knight, only Khonshu and Taweret still had avatars. Taweret’s was Layla, with Khonshu’s being Jake Lockley, the secret third identity besides Marc and Steven. However, it is the other Egyptian gods that now need to find new avatars.
Selim, the avatar of Osiris, leader of the Ennead, will arguably be the most important to replace. In Egyptian mythology, Osiris is the god of many things, including fertility, the afterlife, resurrection, and agriculture to name a few. In Marvel’s iterations, Osiris is the leader of the Egyptian gods, meaning Selim was a very important avatar. With his death, Osiris needs to find a new person worthy of being the avatar of the ruler of the gods. One of the other avatars that received more of a focus in Moon Knight episode 3 was Yatzil, the avatar of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of music and love. Hathor and Khonshu were hinted to be old friends, with Yatzil helping Marc and Layla find the location of Ammit’s tomb. The other avatars received less of a focus, having minor speaking parts before being killed by Harrow. The gods of these avatars included Horus, god of the sky, Tefnut, goddess of rain, water, and moisture, and Isis, goddess of life and magic. Each of these gods will now need to find new avatars to further complete the roster of the Ennead alongside Marc and Layla as Khonshu and Taweret respectively, which could lead to the new MCU superhero team.
Marc & Layla Could Form A New Egyptian Superhero Team
![Steven and Layla smiling at each other in Moon Knight.](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Moon-Knight-Steven-Layla.jpg)
With the search for new avatars beginning after the events of Moon Knight, this new Egyptian-based, Avengers-like superhero team could spawn from Marc and Layla. While Khonshu’s avatar is technically Jake, Marc and Steven will likely find out eventually and continue acting as Khonshu’s vengeance. Combining that with Layla acting as Taweret’s will, they could form a new team themselves. Should the avatars found be linked closely to Marc and Layla in some way, rather than consisting of avatars from across the world who are unlinked in their human lives as was the case with the previous Ennead, the new ones could all be closely connected, forming a more cohesive and stronger team.
While not a lot has been revealed about Marc and Layla’s pasts outside of their connection and Marc’s childhood in Moon Knight episode 5, there are a few places these avatars could come from. For example, Marc is a trained mercenary, meaning he likely knows a lot of very skilled people that could be willing to take after him and become an avatar. Also, Marc is likely to have made allies in his mercenary work that could be worthy enough of becoming a god’s avatar. Layla on the other hand has a lot of black market links through both her father and Marc. As seen in Moon Knight episode 3, Layla has a lot of contacts that could be useful as avatars. Layla’s father was also an archeologist who had an affinity for ancient Egypt. This means that Layla likely knows a lot of people who have some form of familiarity with the gods of the Ennead who would be perfect as an avatar.
If Marc and Layla – who almost became Khonshu’s next avatar herself – compiled a list of their respective allies, they could help spearhead the search for the new Egyptian god’s avatars. Through this, once the Ennead has been somewhat rebuilt, Marc and Layla (and Khonshu and Taweret) could be founding members of a new MCU Avengers team, only based on ancient Egyptian mythology. The newest Disney+ show has left a lot of things for Marvel to explore going forward in this facet of the MCU, but the most exciting thing to come from Moon Knight is the endless potential of a new superhero team based in Egypt, and the deeper exploration of the pantheon that come with it.
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