Warning! SPOILERS for Moon Knight episode 3.
Moon Knight episode 3 subtly hints its hero has been active in the MCU for longer than Spider-Man. Marvel's Moon Knight Disney+ TV series has taken a creative new approach to telling an origin story. It essentially uses Moon Knight's Dissociative Identity Disorder as a plot device, with the first two episodes seen through the eyes of Steven Grant, an alter who has no idea he is also a superhero empowered by the ancient Egyptian god Khonshu.
This naturally means that, for much of the time, viewers only know a little more than Steven Grant himself. Indeed, so far Moon Knight has only alluded to the superhero's origin, in which Marc Spector was rescued from death by Khonshu and became his avatar as a result. There's certainly no real sense of how all this slots into the main timeline. Marc Spector's passport was apparently issued during the Blip, meaning he wasn't a victim of Thanos' snap, but so far that's been the only detail to indicate how Moon Knight fits into the main MCU timeline.
Moon Knight episode 3 does indeed contain a subtle clue, however, revealing Layla Abdallah El-Faouly left Egypt ten years earlier in mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of her father, with Marc Spector apparently implicated. Layla is clearly at least partly inspired by a character from the comics named Marlene, whose father tragically died during Moon Knight's origin story. Given that's the case, it's a strong hint Spector has been Moon Knight for a decade. The Disney+ chronology appears to place the Moon Knight TV short in early 2025 in the MCU, meaning Spector has been serving Khonshu for ten years and has been active as a vigilante for longer than even Spider-Man.
It's interesting to note that means Spector's Moon Knight has been active through a very difficult period of time in the superhero community. The Sokovia Accords in the MCU divided the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, which is set in 2016, meaning there was no formal team of Avengers - perhaps a good thing, as they could easily have been assigned to hunt down this mysterious, brutal vigilante. Moon Knight survived Thanos' snap in 2018, and was no doubt kept very busy indeed in the geopolitical chaos that followed; presumably this also explained why nobody noticed his activities, however, given the crisis everybody was dealing with.
It's fascinating to compare Moon Knight's experience with Spider-Man's. Peter Parker first suited up six months before Captain America: Civil War, but he allowed himself to be caught on camera. Spider-Man was drawn into the Avengers' orbit, and as a result a local vigilante became a well-known, respected superhero - at least until he was framed by Mysterio. Moon Knight has so far avoided that kind of exposure, but it remains to be seen whether he can continue to do so.
Moon Knight releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+
