Spoiler Warning: Moon Knight Season One
As awesome as Moon Knight is, he has, unfortunately, never reached the heights of popularity as many of the more well-known heroes in Marvel Comics' massive stable of characters such as Spider-Man, The Avengers, or The Punisher. Part of what this means for Moon Knight is that unlike all of those other heroes, he has never really had his own stable of villains.
Sure, he has one or two villains that are uniquely his. He even has his own nemesis in the form of Raul Bushman (whose existence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was hinted at in episode 5 of the Disney+ series). Still, most of the most well-known stories involving Moon Knight are about him fighting other characters' villains or team-ups with groups like The Avengers, The Defenders, or The Midnight Sons (who have also been hinted to be coming to the MCU). Marvel Studios, however, seemed to be very aware of this and were very careful to use only what they had available to them for the Disney+ show's first season. This is why they decided to use Arthur Harrow as the villain, as in the comics, he is a more recent addition to Moon Knight's rogues' gallery, but he is also one of the few Marvel villains that is unique to Moon Knight.
With this in mind, however, given the characterization of Moon Knight's patron god, Khonshu, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and knowing that Moon Knight himself does not have many other villains, is it possible that Khonshu is the real villain of Moon Knight?
In the original Marvel Comics, it was always a matter of debate whether Khonshu actually existed, as like in the Disney+ series, Marc Spector is legitimately insane. However, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not only has Khonshu been proven without a shadow of a doubt to be real, but he has been shown to not exactly be a kind god who has no problem abusing his avatars and forcing them to do things that they wouldn't normally do. Sure, one could argue that his intentions are good, but the same could be said of most villains, such as DC's Lex Luthor, who truly believes that he is doing the whole of humanity a favor by getting rid of Superman. In episode 4 of the Disney+ series, Arthur Harrow even admits that Khonshu drove him to his actions.
So all the evidence is in front of us that Khonshu is not a benevolent god, but is he a villain?
Khonshu's Vengeance
Webster defines vengeance as: “Punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense.” Exactly what sort of “punishment” is supposed to be inflicted upon a person in retaliation for said injury or offense is intentionally left vague. There are many forms of vengeance and ways to punish an individual for their offenses.
In the MCU, Khonshu does not seem to understand this, as the only acceptable form of “punishment” in his eyes seems to be murder, even going as far as to attempt to force Marc Spector and Steven Grant to kill several people despite their unwillingness to do so. During his fight with Ammit in the last episode of the Disney+ series, Khonshu claims that he gives people a choice whether to commit evil acts before he punishes them. Still, as shown later in that same episode, this isn't true. The last thing we see him do in that fight before he supposedly releases Marc and Steven from their obligations to him as Moon Knight is attempt to force them to kill both Arthur Harrow and Ammit for the crimes they committed. This effectively takes away their choice and Marc and Steven's as well.
Even after that fight ended, however, Khonshu is still insistent on getting his way. He used a roundabout way to have Arthur and Ammit killed by having Marc and Steven's third personality, Jake Lockley, do it for him. If anything, this shows that Khonshu is the type of god that only allows for his way of doing things and accepts no other alternatives.
Why a Villain Would Need a Hero
The newly established rules for gods and avatars in the Moon Knight series aside, one question that is no doubt going to be eventually asked by both the characters in said series as well as fans is why a merciless god-like Khonshu would even need Moon Knight and not just have someone like The Punisher carry out his vengeance for him? More specifically, why would Khonshu need Moon Knight in the form and manner he traditionally appears rather than something or someone much simpler? The answer, disturbingly, has everything to do with perception.
If Khonshu had someone with no mercy like The Punisher carry out his vengeance for him, to most, his actions would appear to be little more than acts of murder, and those same people would grow to fear and hate both him and, by extension, Khonshu himself. However, with the cape, flashy costume, and the right avatar, Khonshu can have his avatar's actions painted as acts of good, especially if the avatar in question truly believes they are doing the right thing.
This will not only make Khonshu's avatar look like a hero in the eyes of the people he protects, but Khonshu will be seen as a hero and a benevolent god as well, and that is what is most important to a god.