I bet Moon Knight had you Googling all sorts of queries relating to Egyptian mythology. You might be surprised to find out that Egyptian gods were indeed part of Marvel comics, and had their own pantheons like the Asgardians and the Eternals.
(Well, you can argue that MCU wrote Asgardian gods off as aliens, while Eternals inspired myths about gods among humans).
In any case, if you’re wondering if Khonshu is a god in real life as he is in the MCU, here’s your answer:
Marvel’s Khonshu is inspired by the real-life Egyptian mythological Moon god of the same name. Marvel’s Ennead, too, is drawn from the same mythology; however, the comics added more characters/gods to the pantheon.
Introducing more gods into the MCU is really exciting, especially because it may tie into Thor 4. I will now get into what Marvel has adopted, and what aspects of Egyptian mythology have been changed for Moon Knight.
Khonshu is the Real Deal
Khonshu indeed is the Egyptian Moon god, also known by other iterations of his name, Chonsu, Khons, Chons, and Khonsu. He is the son of Amon, the god of gods and Mut, the goddess of the sky.
It seems like the depiction of Khonshu’s personality changed through the decades—he was first known as a ruthless god (and Moon Knight series does go down this road, making their Khonshu a douche bag) but later was portrayed to be more benevolent in nature.
Like the show, the crescent moon has been his main symbol. Unlike the show, he wasn’t actually depicted as a pigeon-skull-head in Egyptian mythology.
Ammit Gets a Promotion
The Egyptians did believe that after a person died, their heart would be weighed against a feather on the scales of Ma’at, which would determine their fate in the afterlife. As such, Ammit was more like a creature designed for the purpose of devouring people with bad hearts, rather than judging them; and she was certainly not revered as a god.
The show has switched it up by not just depicting Ammit as a goddess but also changing her agenda to judging people with her foresight while they’re still alive. If that’s not an existential take, I don’t know what is!
The Ennead in the Marvel Comics
Marvel’s Ennead is borrowed from Egyptian mythology’s Ennead, a pantheon of nine powerful gods. The word is derived from the Latin root, Enneás, which means nine. Of course, the comics add more Egyptian gods to the Ennead.
The show brings out the Ennead in Episode 3 when the other gods want to punish Khonshu for calling on unwanted attention by manipulating the sky. Here are the gods we see in the episode:
- Horus: The god of the Sun
- Isis: The goddess of fertility
- Tefnut: The goddess of rain
- Osiris: The god of the dead
- Hathor: The goddess of music and love, and self-proclaimed close friends with Khonshu
We haven’t seen the goddess Taweret yet, but we might soon since Antonia Salib has been cast to play her.
Now that we know Ennead technically means nine and the comics have a larger glossary of Egyptian gods, it makes you wonder why Moon Knight only shows us only seven of the gods in this pantheon. It’s unknown if this is just a change made to the MCU canon or if there are indeed more Ennead gods missing in action.
We also know that according to the comic books, Bast, the panther goddess who the Wakandians worship, is also part of the Ennead. Could she be one of the missing gods?
Plus, this is also around the time Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher is going around killing gods with his cosmic weapon. Did Gorr already kill some of the other Egyptian gods? Could the missing gods be a link between Moon Knight and Thor: Love and Thunder?
Marvel sure knows how to keep us on our toes with these questions. We will definitely see the Ennead again in Moon Knight’s upcoming episodes. Hopefully, they’ll put an end to some of these queries.
About Moon Knight
Moon Knight is an American superhero television series created for Disney+ based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The 6-episode series is directed by Mohamed Diab and the team of Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead. Jeremy Slater is the head writer for the sixth MCU Show.
The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
Oscar Isaac, May Calamawy, and Ethan Hawke star in the Disney+ series.
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