-1.png?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
The following contains spoilers for Moon Knight #16, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Some readers may not realize that Moon Knight first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32 as a monster hunter on the trail of Jack Russell, Marvel’s premiere wolf-man and current star of the Werewolf by Night Halloween Special on Disney+. Through the years Moon Knight has taken his fair share of mercenary work, but he seems to always come back to his horror roots, or at least ordered to by his god, Khonshu.
Since the first issue of the current Moon Knight series (by Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio) Marc Spector has not only been fighting vampires but allying himself with them. This is typically an area usually reserved for Blade. Spector rejected Khonshu but decided to continue his work, and as Mr. Knight he started up the “Midnight Mission” as a safe place for anyone that asked for asylum, including vampires. One such person was Reese, recently turned and forced to become a creature of the night. Reese becomes Spector’s receptionist at the Midnight Mission and an ally in Moon Knight’s crusade against the villain Tutor and his undead.
Moon Knight Has a Powerful New Ally in Hunter’s Moon
-2.png?q=50&fit=crop&w=750&dpr=1.5)
Until recently, it was thought that Moon Knight was the only one Fist of Khonshu. Dr. Badr, aka Hunter's Moon, is an Egyptian doctor whose family was killed by vampires and left for dead. However, Badr is saved by Khonshu and given all the powers and skills of previous Fists. Thus, Hunter's Moon effectively replaces Moon Knight as the god’s acting representative. The newly emboldened avatar finds out Moon Knight was taking in stray vampires and confronts him. The fight leaves Moon Knight at the mercy of Badr as he infiltrates the Midnight Mission in search of Spector’s vampiric allies. But Moon Knight eventually overcomes Hunter’s Moon, and with the help of Reese is able to form somewhat of an alliance with the new Fist of Khonshu.
The most recent issue also sees Mr. Knight seeking an audience with Lady Yulan, the Tutor’s rival in the department of vampire gang leaders. The two spend the entire issue coming to a resolution for destroying the Tutor. But without speaking a single word of dialogue, Hunter’s Moon spends every panel of the issue that he’s in tracking and hunting every blood sucker he comes across. He eventually runs into Grand Mal and Nemean, two assassins hired by the Tutor to bring in Moon Knight.
Why Hunter’s Moon is a Better Vampire Hunter Than Blade
Reminiscent of the dance-club-scene in the first Blade movie, Badr is surrounded by the assembled vampires but he takes out every single one. Badr is even better than Blade in this regard. In the movie, Blade was prepared for the sheer volume of adversaries and properly planned for the encounter. But, Hunter's Moon was ambushed and paid a heavy price, having been impaled with every kind of bladed weapon. But he’s still alive, and he’s seated on top of a mound of charred vampire skeletons and bodies of the undead. He won the battle, but to add insult to injury, the two assassins take advantage of the situation and snap the neck of Hunter’s Moon with a loud crack, seemingly killing him.
If there’s one thing Moon Knight fans know it’s that no Fist of Khonshu ever stays dead long. Spector himself has been there many times. Hunter’s Moon is no different, and there’s no reason for Khonshu to not see his worth and bring back Dr. Badr once more. With the addition of Lady Yulan into the mix, and the recent grouping of Moon Knight and Blade’s daughter, Bloodline, in this week’s Crypt of Shadows comic book, it’s a solid bet that the vampire nation is about to get a serious dose of revenge. Hunter’s Moon will no doubt be back and continue to stake his claim as the best vampire hunter in the Marvel Universe.