The following article contains spoilers for Moon Knight episode 2.Moon Knight flipped the script by giving Marc Spector the reins in the final moments of this week’s episode, taking Steven’s body all the way to Egypt under the orders of Khonshu. Tensions are definitely rising as Arthur Harrow gets closer to freeing Ammit, a rift grows between Steven and Marc and Khonshu threatens to take Layla as his next avatar.
So far, the series has performed pretty well amongst fans, despite being largely separated from the rest of the events unfolding in the MCU. With plenty of questions left unanswered and the stakes getting increasingly higher, episode 2 was chock-full of comic book references and MCU Easter eggs.
The Mr. Knight Suit
While in control of his shared body, Marc ordered Steven to summon the suit in order to fight off the jackal and keep Layla safe. After falling from a window, Steven tried to call upon the Moon Knight suit, but ended up with a more dapper (and literal) version of a suit instead.
This particular wardrobe choice is a callback to Moon Knight’s daytime persona, Mr. Knight, where he opts for black tie, instead of merciless mercenary. The Mr. Knight uniform typically aids Marc on his adventures when he needs to take to the streets and gather information from everyday folks, or even the police.
Global Repatriation Council
While donning his Mr. Knight gear and fighting the jackal, Steven comes across a bus in the middle of the street with some confused and concerned patrons. On the side of the bus is a GRC logo, which calls back to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
GRC stands for Global Repatriation Council, an international organization created to help refugees forced from their new homes after the Blip. The GRC planned to force all immigrants back to their native countries once the missing half of the population returned, which is what inspired the Flag smashers to take a stand against the injustice.
Purple Magic
When Arthur uses the cane with Ammit’s power, a purple right opens up in the ground to release the jackal that attacks Steve and Layla.The color of Arthur’s magic is the same color as Agatha’s magic in WandaVision, who serves as the series antagonist and foil to Wanda.
In episode 1, Arthur tells Steven that there’s chaos inside him. Thanks to Agatha Harkness, fans know that Wanda was born of chaos magic, which is exceptionally unique. These parallels could very well be a coincidence, however Marvel rarely does anything without intention. The color of magic also symbolizes different things in the franchise, so the show writers likely chose to give Arthur purple magic for a reason.
Crescent Darts
Making its appearance for the first time in the series, Marc wielded his classic crescent darts after taking control of Steve’s body. Moon Knight’s weapon of choice is these moon-shaped throwing blades, which he typically keeps strapped to his belt in the comics. However, Marc decided to keep them closer to home in the Disney Plus series, pulling them from the logo on his chest instead. As it turns out, the design is both fashionable and functional.
The Banishment of Khonshu
A particularly bone-chilling conversation between Arthur Harrow and Steven revealed just how twisted Arthur and his followers truly are, evidently having no shame about killing children for something they may or may not do in the future. Arthur tells Steven that he knows what Khonshu is saying, because he was once the Egyptian god’s avatar.
While on his tangent, Arthur also mentions that Khonshu was exiled by the other Egyptian gods for intervening with human life and enacting justice on those who have committed atrocities against their fellow man. The same thing was done to Khonshu in the comics, bringing this live-action version of Moon Knight’s adventures even closer to its comic origins.
Bobbi Kennedy and Billy Fitzgerald
The fake police officers who “arrested” Steven were named as Bobbi Kennedy and Billy Fitzgerald in the credit sequence of episode 2, calling back on a Moon Knight comic issue that featured two characters of the same name. In the comics, these characters served as Mercy Hospital Orderlies and were tasked with keeping Marc Spector at bay in an insane asylum. Just like in the show, Bobbi (spelled Bobby in the comics) and Billy devoted themselves to seeing Ammit walk free and were trying to subdue Marc in the interest of serving their god.
Interactive QR Code
When Steven finds the storage locker Marc has been residing in, there's a QR code that appears on a sticker, next to the number 43. Just like QR codes on the museum walls planted in episode 1, the code from episode 2 is scannable and takes viewers to a free issue of a Moon Knight comic book.
New episodes of Moon Knight are currently streaming every Wednesday on Disney Plus.