Warning: Spoilers for Phases of the Moon Knight #4!Out of all of Marvel’s considerable roster of heroes,Moon Knight’slegacy is thornier than most, as the character falls into the unfortunately all-too-broad category of a white man being granted power from an “exotic” foreign culture. Now, however, thePhases of the Moon Knightanthology introduces a past Moon Knight who is not only a native Egyptian but is also a fierce proponent of her homeland’s values and rights.
The first story inPhases of the Moon Knight#4, “For Now” by Fabian Nicieza, Moisés Hidalgo, Fernando Sifuentes, and Cory Petit, introduces readers to Nakia, the Moon Knight of the late 19th century. The story plays out during the British occupation of Egypt in 1880, and Nakia is hard-pressed to protect both the Egyptian civilians of Alexandria and the occupying British forces from the supernatural evils that their conflict has awakened.
Nakia is an importantstep in Moon Knight’s history, as her tenure with the title marks one of the few times thatthe mantel of one of Marvel’s African heroes is actually held by an African character from a real African nation.
The New Moon Knight Is an Egyptian Hero for Egyptian History
Nakia Is a Much-Needed Step Forward for African Representation
The time period of “For Now” is important and chosen quite deliberately. The 19th century saw a wave of interest in Ancient Egypt from Western nations, fueled by British archaeological expeditions that resulted in much of Egypt’s buried history being exported abroad for display in foreign museums.Nakia emerges as Moon Knight during a time when her country’s history is literally being sold out from under it, making her presence as an Egyptian hero for the Egyptian people all the more symbolic.
Nakia marks one of the few occasions when one of Marvel’s African heroes is actually of African origin and heritage.
Then there is the fact that Nakia is herself Egyptian. The superhero genre has had longstanding issues with European or American characters gaining mystic powers from appropriated cultures. Africa, as a continent, has suffered particularly poor representation: while Black Panther is a prominent African hero, the character hails from an entirely fictional nation, and his lore is steeped in the culture of the American Civil Rights Movement. Nakia marksone of the few occasions when one of Marvel’s African heroes is actually of African origin and heritage.
Marvel Comics Has a History of Struggling with African Characters
The New Moon Knight, Nakia, Hits the Mark That Others Miss
Nakia’s debut isa big step for Moon Knight, a character whose origin was literally that of a military agent foreign to Egypt, “chosen” by Egyptian gods. While the Moon Knight franchise does offer readers the character of Hunter’s Moon, an Egyptian doctor who becomes another one of Khonshu’s servants, it nonetheless stands that Hunter’s Moon is a secondary character while the American Marc Spector remains the marquee figure. By contrast,Nakia is not a side character: she is her generation’s Moon Knight.
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Nakia’s existence is an important step forward for franchises likeMoon Knight,which owe their existence to foreign cultures that Marvel has not always respected. “For Now” honors Moon Knight’s Egyptian roots with a story about real-life Egyptian history with Egyptian characters, and it’s refreshing in its desire to break away from stale tropes. Nakia’s debut asMoon Knightmay be decades overdue, but she is a more than welcome addition to Marvel’s superhero repertoire.
Moon Knight
Cast
Moon Knight stars Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant, a gift-shop employee in London who discovers he has dissociative identity disorder. He shares a body with Marc Spector and together, they travel to Egypt to uncover a deadly mystery surrounding the gods.Moon Knightconsisted of six episodes and was the fifth live-action TV show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4. Also starring in the series is Ethan Hawke as the villainous Arthur Harrow and May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly.
