Warning! Spoilers ahead for Moon Knight episode 5.
Moon Knight episodes 1-4 have already shown its titular character to have darker sides than many of the Avengers, but after the release of episode 5, it’s even harder to imagine him fighting alongside the team. As the avatar of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the Moon, Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) enacts justice upon wrongdoers. This is often done through violent means while wearing the Moon Knight cape and it doesn’t seem as though many live to speak of Khonshu’s judgment.
Moon Knight episode 5 provided a shocking visual representation of the scale of Spector’s violence while working for Khonshu. The episode takes place largely in the mental hospital in which Marc found himself after getting shot by Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) in episode 4. After finding Steven, Marc’s secondary personality, and the goddess Taweret, it is explained that they are dead and that the hospital is a coping mechanism Marc has created for himself. When encouraged to help each other uncover lost memories, Marc and Steven find themselves in a room filled with people that the former has killed.
While a specific number isn’t given in reference to Marc’s fatalities, the amount of people in the room is concerning. Most of Marvel’s heroes don’t have a kill count—although many of them have taken lives in war or in the line of duty—making Marc’s version of heroism more complicated than the usual MCU fare. It has been speculated that Marc may eventually be featured in an Avengers movie, but the brutality seen in Moon Knight makes it seem impossible for the character to have a future on a team that ultimately has a black-and-white view of justice. Though all of the Avengers have made hard decisions while trying to do the right thing, they don’t operate as executioners in the way that Marc does in service of Khonshu.
Moon Knight isn’t the first Marvel television show to depict brutal violence. Daredevil actually shows more violence onscreen, and in a much more overtly brutal way, having been highly praised for the choreography and filming of its combat scenes. Because of this, Daredevil’s (Charlie Cox) ability to fight alongside of the Avengers has also been in question, since it would require the character to take on a less graphic fighting style to fit in with the cleaned-up battles sequences of the mainstream Marvel films. But Daredevil doesn’t kill, so despite his willingness to take violent measures, he still appears less morally gray than Moon Knight.
WandaVision explored the darker side of a major Avenger through Wanda’s mind control over a large group of innocent citizens. Although this power was used almost accidentally in that show, it appears that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will delve further into Wanda’s dark side. This shows that Marvel is willing to include morally complicated characters in its larger narrative surrounding the Avengers but once again, the Scarlet Witch has not killed in the name of justice. It’s difficult to see Marc making the jump from Moon Knight into the Avengers with his propensity to kill already established.
There is potential that there could be a redemption arc that allows Marc to become part of the Avengers; after all, Wanda had shaky beginnings with the team in Avengers: Age of Ultron. But given the nature of Marc’s relationship to his powers through Khonshu, it doesn’t seem as though he has the freedom to administer justice according to his own judgment. With only one more episode of Moon Knight remaining, his future in the MCU will hopefully continue whether he is alone or part of the Avengers.
New episodes of Moon Knight release every Wednesday on Disney+.
