The events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame have fueled pretty much all of Marvel’s Disney Plus shows to date, from Loki spinning out of the Asgardian’s time-altering escape to Hawkeye dealing with the fallout of Clint’s stint as Ronin. Moon Knight has been the exception, then, as it’s offered zero connections to Thanos, the Infinity Stones, or The Blip in its first five episodes.
But this intriguing fan theory devises a way in which the series may obliquely tie back to those movies by suggesting a compelling solution for a big plot hole. Posting on the /FanTheories subreddit, Reddit user /almighty_smiley shared their idea for why Khonshu replaced Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) with Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) as his avatar: what if Harrow was a victim of The Snap?
“If Arthur Harrow is to be believed, Khonshu isn’t in the habit of letting go of his avatars,” the user wrote, before opining that Harrow’s violent tendencies would make him more than a match for Marc as the god’s Fist of Vengeance. “How would Harrow have broken free of Khonshu’s allegedly iron grip? Simply put, he didnt [sic]; Harrow was stolen from Khonshu. Along with half the universe.”
The theorist continued, “Arthur Harrow was a victim of The Snap. With no avatar left and one more job needing to be done, Khonshu happened upon Marc Spector. The rest is history.”
Moon Knight has been so vague in terms of its connections to the wider universe that this theory is totally plausible, given what we’ve been told so far. It’s been implied that Arthur and Khonshu split over Harrow’s increasingly extreme mindset but the theorist makes a good point that the god would still be unlikely to let him go unless a big cosmic event like The Snap forced his decision.
As pointed out by fans in the comments, however, the timing may not quite line up here. In episode four, Layla says she hasn’t visited Egypt for 10 years, probably because of her father’s death, which occurred when Marc first became Moon Knight. A bus ad for the Global Repatriation Society in episode two, meanwhile, seemingly confirms the show takes place in 2025. Therefore, Marc has potentially been Khonshu’s avatar since 2015.
Maybe we’ll get some key info in this week’s finale that will help us discern both the reason for Harrow and Khonshu’s split and how Moon Knight fits into the overall puzzle of the MCU.