It's often been said that Moon Knight is Marvel's answer to Batman. And it's true they operate off a similar archetype: billionaire dresses up to fight crime at night. Perhaps that's why it's so popular to view them together, despite Batman being significantly more popular over the years. But if it is true, and Marvel is bringing their version of Batman to life, then these are certainly exciting times we are living.

But one shouldn't go into Moon Knight with too many expectations. He is, after all, his own superhero. If you're a fan of the newer, darker versions of the Dark Knight, you might be in for a pleasant surprise because the Joker's usual games wouldn't work on Marc Spector. Sometimes they might even get along. Moon Knight hits harder, has fewer morals, and is more estranged from society than Batman. So sit down and buckle up because if this guy is Batman, you might end up with more than you bargained for.

Multiple Personalities

The most significant difference between Moon Knight and Batman is that the man who is Moon Knight has an extreme case of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Marc Spector, Moon Knight's secret identity, is continually tormented by mental illness. In the comics, the original explanation for his gallivanting around as a superhero is because he is legitimately crazy. The Disney+ series has confirmed four different personalities for Mr. Spector, all listed as separate characters, all played by one Oscar Isaac, who you might recognize from Dune or as Poe Dameron from the Star Wars sequels. While Marc Spector is known as the original personality, the line becomes very blurred, as people with DID are wont to do.

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The first personality we saw in the trailer for the series is Stephen Grant, the British billionaire who is secretly funding the Moon Knight. He isn't quite a playboy, as we've seen before with Bruce Wayne, but he is tantamount to this secret identity. A public figure with a large bankroll who Moon Knight probably genuinely believes is another person. While Moon Knight is the traditionally grounded superhero in the "caped crusader" genre, the audience is also granted the personality of Mr. Knight. Another masked hero who would take on the equivalent renown of Batman's title "world's greatest detective." Although in the comics, Mr. Knight is a more charismatic character, solving problems with his wit rather than his fists. So really, what you're getting is two for the price of one; two Bruce Waynes and two Batmen.

Origin Stories

Both characters have surprisingly similar pasts but have drastic differences where it counts the most. Marc Spector's DID does come from some childhood trauma, similar to Bruce Wayne losing his parents. And while one could argue that Bruce, and perhaps every superhero, has a form of DID by means of wearing a mask and fighting crime, it certainly isn't as visible and quite not as diagnosable as the problems Marc Spector must grapple with.

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But both characters did gain their penchant for violence by wandering the world in a disillusioned haze. Although where Batman was discovered and trained by Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins, Marc Spector got his skills from extensive military service and time spent in the CIA. And while Batman's "bat theme" might come from several places (either in the comics or from Christopher Nolan), Moon Knight's aesthetic is explicitly grounded in Egyptology. During a fight with one of his first canonical villains, Marc Spector was defeated and awoke in front of a statue of the ancient Egyptian god of the moon, Khonshu. Spector believed this deity had somehow spared his life and thus begat the Moon Knight persona.

Powers and Morality

While the Moon theme in the comics initially resulted from a simple fascination with this god that may have saved him, the god Khonshu eventually became a more prominent character and endowed Spector with certain powers related to the Moon. While there are still versions of Moon Knight that do not have any powers whatsoever, the heroic abilities include superhuman strength on nights of a full moon, occasional hallucinations, prophetic visions, and the ability to drain a person's life force by touching them. Also, one thing worth mentioning is that Moon Knight has died several times in the comics, and the god Khonshu has successfully revived him. This plays as a blessing and a curse, in more of a way where after Moon Knight might sacrifice himself, Khonshu won't allow him to die, thus kind of enslaving him with the gift of immortality. And though it's used differently, this mechanic is reminiscent of the Lazarus Pit in the Batman comics.

Finally, we come to the biggest difference between Moon Knight and Batman. This is the ultimate line that separates the two ethically and characteristically. And that is that Moon Knight has no qualms about killing people. Where this is the one thing that Batman uses to justify his work and keep himself separate from Gotham's villainous underbelly, Moon Knight kills regularly. Possibly due to his time as an assassin for the CIA or maybe due to his mental illness, but he does not seem to have a problem with murder. In fact, it's gotten him kicked out of the Avengers before and isolated him from other superheroes in the past. So if you go into this new series thinking Moon Knight and Batman are the same, you should know that Moon Knight has already broken Batman's one big rule. And for him, there's no going back.