The new Moon Knight #1 explained – his new villain, new mission, and the return of Mr. Knight

Marc Spector is back in business in Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1 by writer Jed MacKay, artist Alessandro Cappuccio, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and letterer Cory Petit. The new ongoing series revives a classic title from the ’80s while reestablishing Spector’s status quo following his death and resurrection.

As it turns out, Marc Spector’s new status quo isn’t so different from what he had going on before he died back in 2023’s Moon Knight #30, though he has a brand new villain to contend with. But while Moon Knight is returning to a fan-favorite incarnation to hunt him down, it turns out someone else is hunting Moon Knight in turn.

Spoilers ahead for Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1 puts Moon Knight back in his Mr. Knight persona, back on the trail of a new villain named Achilles Fairchild – a violent drug pusher with a southern drawl. Not just a run of the mill pusher, Fairchild is the source of a new drug known as ‘glitter’ which has magical potency that leaves many of its users hopelessly addicted, beyond the effects of any earthly narcotic or pharmaceutical. 

And to protect him, Fairchild has an army of masked guards who Moon Knight viciously tears through in a brutal brawl that shows Marc Spector isn’t wasting any time getting down and dirty now that he’s back. But Moon Knight stops short of attacking Fairchild himself, as he calls off his guards and invites Moon Knight – fully suited up in his Mr. Knight garb – to a sitdown.

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

All the while, the story cuts back and forth to a different sitdown, a meeting between ex-cop Flint, who previously had a violent partnership with Moon Knight that led to him quitting the police force, and Detective Frazier, who is grilling him about Marc Spector’s return, and his known associates at the Midnight Mission. 

Back at the club, Moon Knight confronts Fairchild with the glitter, and tells him to get out of his territory. Fairchild refuses, leading Moon Knight to flat out threaten to kill him if he doesn’t. 

This prompts Fairchild to introduce his personal bodyguard, Carver, a former mercenary who carries a magical weapon from the Norse realm of Vanaheim. And though they don’t throw down just yet, you can bet Carver is being set up for a big, probably bloody fight with Moon Knight down the road.

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Moon Knight makes his exit, but not before reiterating that he’ll come for Fairchild if he doesn’t get glitter off the streets, telling him he gave him a warning only because “I like it when they see me coming” – a familiar refrain from when he first took on his Mr. Knight persona.

Meanwhile, back at the diner where Flint and Frazier are meeting, Flint refuses to give up any information on Moon Knight to Detective Frazier, leaving her there with no leads to try and track down the violent vigilante. But there’s one more twist…

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

As it turns out, both stories are in fact connected, as Frazier exits the diner – and gets right into Achilles Fairchild’s limo, where it’s revealed that she’s actually corrupt and working for him in exchange for more glitter to feed her growing addiction.

The story continues in November 20’s Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #2.

Learn all about the history of Moon Knight.