Moon Knight—the latest Marvel TV offering—descends upon us on March 30th, and that means the internet theory machine is plugging along full speed ahead! We can’t stop wondering who is going to show up, and even more importantly for some, are the characters really who they say they are?
One of the theories gaining some traction is that Ethan Hawke’s Arthur Harrow is more than he lets on. We saw in the Super Bowl trailer that he has a magical scales tattoo, and near the end, we see someone with what looks like a jackal’s head, which could mean… Anubis!
But who is Anubis?
Anubis, in Egyptian mythology, is the God of death, rebirth, and the afterlife. In Marvel, he’s also a member of the Heliopolitan race of Gods who live in a pocket dimension adjacent to Earth (and were worshipped by the ancient Egyptians). As the God of death, one of his main duties is to usher souls into the afterlife, weighing their souls on a scale to see who is worthy—and who would be fed to the crocodile-headed monster, Ammit.Â
And before you make a snap judgment on not wanting to be fed to a crocodile monster, maybe we should pause, and you know, see the crocodile first. For all we know, he could be cousins to Alligator Loki, and that rascal can nibble on us all he wants. He’s a good little predator, yes he is.
Is Anubis a villain in the Marvel Comics?
Anubis has made a few notable appearances throughout the Marvel comic universe, but his lore in the comics is slim compared to other famous gods. One of the most interesting, and potentially fruitful for Marvel crossovers, is his connection to Wakanda.
A millennia ago, Anubis attempted to usurp the throne and enslave Amon Ra (his great-great-grandfather). He tried to cut out Amon Ra’s heart and absorb its power. However, Ra was able to trick him by giving his heart to Bast, the Panther Goddess. Bast then took the heart into the center of Africa to hide it. While there, she met a tribe of great hunters who began to worship her, and she decided to bless one of them with the blood of Ra. That warrior was then tasked with protecting the heart and creating the Necropolis of Wakanda … along with the lineage of the Black Panther. And while I doubt that we will see Marc Spector travel to Wakanda in this series (although, who knows!), if Anubis is involved, it does create an exciting connection for future movies and seasons to explore!
Anubis’ role in Moon Night
In the Moon Knight comic, one of the minor villains who Spector comes into conflict with is Ahmad Azis. Azis was said to be the reincarnation of Araamses, the treacherous Priest of Anubis who attempted to seize the Pharoah’s throne after Set’s death. Instead, he was captured and buried alive in Set’s tomb. Azis claimed to have been revived alongside Spector when he was touched by the light of Khonshu.
It’s quite possible that the series Moon Knight has instead decided to make Arthur Harrow the Priest of Anubis. After all, we’ve seen the scale tattoo, we know he has some sort of creepy cult (a death cult perhaps?), and in the first trailer, we saw Moon Knight punching out a creature that has a doggish head. That could have been a minion or possibly a physical manifestation of Anubis! Having Moon Knight deal with Anubis would mean that the series can bring in big bosses like the Sun King (who is also powered by Amon Ra) or even Khonshu himself later on. But there’s only one way to find out, and that’s by tuning in to Disney Plus on March 30th.
(Images: Disney Plus/Marvel)
