While Moon Knight on Disney+ has largely taken place as a standalone story, there's no mistaking the series is still part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- and a fleeting nod to Kang the Conqueror in the latest episode affirms that.
In the series' third episode "The Friendly Type," Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight, finds himself in Cairo fighting an unnamed follower of Arthur Harrow, cult leader and avatar of the Egyptian god Ammit. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment uncovered by New Rockstars, the back of the young thug's jacket shows a likeness reminiscent of Pharoah Rama-Tut -- an identity at one time adopted in the comics by the time-traveling villain Kang.
The history of Kang the Conqueror both in the comics and MCU is a complicated one. A variant of Kang, known only as He Who Remains, was introduced in the season finale of the Disney+ series Loki as the founder and leader of the Time Variance Authority. Played by Jonathan Majors, He Who Remains is revealed to have ended a conflict known as the Multiversal War where other variants of himself attempted to conquer alternate realities. This conflict necessitated the creation of the TVA to preserve the Sacred Timeline and stem the creation of divergent ones.
In comic book continuity, Kang the Conqueror is one Nathaniel Richards, time-traveling scientist and father of the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards. Kang first appeared in 1964's Avengers #8 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In that story, Kang revealed to the Avengers he had traveled from the 31st century to ancient Egypt, becoming the Pharoah known as Rama-Tut. Rama-Tut had first appeared a year earlier in Fantastic Four #19, also by Lee and Kirby, the first chronological appearance of the character.
Nathaniel Richards first appeared some 20 years later in John Byrne's Fantastic Four #272, although the character wasn't established as Kang until the recent Kang the Conqueror mini-series by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Carlos Magno.
The likeness on the thug's jacket in Moon Knight could simply be a commonplace image in that locale -- the scene takes place in Egypt, after all -- but the resemblance to Rama-Tut likely points to something deeper within the context of the MCU. Kang the Conqueror is expected to play a key role in the upcoming film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, slated for release in 2023.
In the meantime, new episodes of Moon Knight stream Wednesdays on Disney+.
Source: YouTube, via The Direct