Here’s How Black Panther’s God May Be Connected To Khonshu

How is Black Panther’s God connected to Khonshu? The first season of Moon Knight has come to an end, but there is a good chance

By Mabel Judith Andrady
May 6,2022
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How is Black Panther’s God connected to Khonshu? The first season of Moon Knight has come to an end, but there is a good chance it will return for a second run. Marc Spector is the Avatar of the Egyptian God Khonshu, who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. If even a portion of that sounds familiar, those intuitions are correct—being the Avatar for the moon-bird God seems a lot like the Black Panther’s situation.

Bast is the Panther God who granted the heart-shaped herb’s power to Wakanda in the MCU’s mythology. What gave T’Challa and his ancestors the Black Panther’s powers to protect their nation was the same item. This means that both Khonshu and Bast have Avatars patrolling the Earth to keep people safe. As a matter of fact, both countries have a strong connection to Africa.

So, does there appear to be an obvious link between them?

There is a Black Panther link

Bast in Black Panther form
Bast

In a one-on-one interview with Moon Knight writer Beau DeMayo, The Direct’s Russ Milheim was able to learn more about the possible link between Black Panther’s God Bast and Marc Spector’s boss, Khonshu.

There was a lot of discussion about the Egyptian Gods’ place in the Marvel Universe, according to the writer.

“We talked a lot in the room about where the Egyptian Gods sat alongside other Gods in the Marvel Universe, and ultimately we kind of came to this conclusion that part of what’s fun about Moon Knight, and I think something I’ve been seeing people really like, is it really does feel like it sits in this very scary corner of the MCU that no one wants to look at. Which is kind of where Moon Knight has always existed as a character. Like, he protects the travelers of the night, the people who fall through the cracks, the people who are in alleyways, the people who are forgotten and overlooked.”

You could easily get lost in all the possibilities that the MCU has to offer. Because of this, the writers “always pulled back from getting too into [their] heads,” and always “focused[ed] on how to make the Egyptian Gods work in Marc Spector’s story,” while also not “upending any continuity issues:” ”

“So we kind of always pulled back from getting too into our heads. I think about, you know, has Bast and Odin and Khonshu ever thrown back pints on Titan, and been like, ‘That Thanos!’ It was always just really focusing on how to make the Egyptian Gods work in Marc Spector’s story, and then making sure that they were never in a place where we were really upending any continuity issues with the MCU.”

It was interesting to note that DeMayo brought up how “cats always kill birds” in real life, a sentiment that may come to fruition should these two come into contact.

“[laughs] You have to wonder! You do have to wonder. I do like this question though, about like, Khonshu and Bast, because I have a cat—I’m an avid cat lover—who is literally sitting [across the room], and I feel compelled to say that cats always kill birds, so I’m just going to say that.”

Is a Meeting Between Khonshu and Bast Unavoidable?

Khonshu and The Ennead

Given DeMayo’s remarks on cats and birds, it appears that he has a preconceived notion of how their meeting might go. But unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to make it happen.

Great to hear that the writers’ room discussed where the Egyptian Gods fit into the larger universe, while also being careful not to disrupt any existing continuity. Excellent work, guys. Thanks. At the very least, Bast’s name would have been mentioned during this conversation.

As a result, those who were hoping for a more overt nod to the Black Panther universe in Moon Knight will be disappointed—at least in the show’s initial iteration. But in Episode 5, there was a wink and nod to the Ancestral Plane of Wakanda, demonstrating that the two franchises have some ties.

After all, Oscar Isaac’s character isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so the MCU’s Gods may have more room to be explored.