Episode 3 of Moon Knight has a scene that will make every Egyptology enthusiast nerd out: an emergency meeting of the Ennead, or the pantheon of the top Egyptian gods. While Khonshu, using Marc as his avatar, is pleading his case to the Ennead (they’re mad at him for blocking out the sun, you see), he utters a very interesting line. “Return from the opulence of the Overvoid,” he says, “before you lose this realm!”
What the heck is the Overvoid? Is it just a bit of worldbuilding, or is there a larger significance? Here’s everything we know so far!
The Overvoid in the Comics
Like many elements of the MCU, the Overvoid wasn’t invented for the series. It has its origins in Marvel comics, where it’s the home realm of the Egyptian pantheon. Like Asgard, the Overvoid—also known as the Celestial Heliopolis—is a mystical city floating in space, a planet that’s not quite a planet. In the comics, the Egyptian gods use a golden bridge to visit earth, much like the Asgardians use the Bifrost to travel between the 9 realms. Marc and the other alters visit the Overvoid occasionally as part of their work for Khonshu. Interestingly, it’s the existence of the Overvoid that confirms, in the comics, that Khonshu actually exists, and isn’t just part of Marc’s imagination. (For more on that, check out Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood’s 2016 Moon Knight run.)
What Could the Overvoid be in the MCU?
As we’ve seen throughout the years, the MCU can be a little cagey about magic and mysticism. In 2011’s Thor, Odin, and other characters explained the Asgardians aren’t gods at all, but an alien race with extreme longevity and incredibly advanced science. (Luckily, by the time Thor: Ragnarok rolled around, Marvel realized that gods are much cooler and started to lean into that.) In Eternals, we learned that Athena, Cersei, and other gods and goddesses were actually ancient robotic beings with slightly different names like Thena and Sersi, and all the mythology surrounding them were just from stories Sprite told in Babylon. Even the Ancient One in Doctor Strange called magic a form of programming.
But so far, it seems like the gods in Moon Knight are actually gods. As in, supreme beings who have a divine obligation to get involved in the affairs of humankind. When Khonshu tells the rest of the Ennead to get off their butts and stop Ammit from killing billions of people, he doesn’t seem to be appealing to their moral compasses—he’s telling them to do their job.
So what is the Overvoid, then? Is it a physical place that you can reach with a spaceship, like Asgard? Is it on another plane of existence, like the Mirror Dimension? Or is it a mystical, divine realm that you can only reach if you’re a god or god-adjacent?
One clue to the nature of the Overvoid might lie in the fact that currently, the Egyptian gods need human avatars to affect things on Earth. Remember that in Episode 2, Khonshu is more or less helpless while Steven is in control of the body. All he can do is create gusts of wind and huff indignantly. He needs Marc and Steven’s human body in order to interact with the physical world. When Khonshu tells them to leave the Overvoid because humanity needs the “might of gods,” he’s most likely telling them to visit Earth in their tangible forms instead of through avatars. How that would happen remains to be seen—but it might point to the Overvoid being a place where the gods can exist in physical form instead of as spirits.
What Does This Mean for the Future of Gods in the MCU?
Thor: Love and Thunder is coming soon, and we already know it’s going to be chock full of gods. In addition to the Asgardians, we know that Zeus will make an appearance (likely an attack on New Asgard, according to that Spider-Man easter egg). Plus, the main villain will be Gorr the God Butcher, which implies the existence of even more gods. Will Thor introduce the Olympians? Will the Ennead make a crossover appearance, depending on how things go down in Moon Knight? Will Marvel still try to explain away divinity with science, or will the MCU fully embrace the existence of gods? We’ll have to wait to find out!
In the meantime, enjoy Episode 3 of Moon Knight, now streaming on Disney Plus!
(image: Marvel)
