The MCU’s next superhero just experienced the one thing stronger than any other superpower and other heroes should use it too.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Moon Knight #7, on sale from Marvel now!
Superheroes deal with world-ending issues on a daily basis and that leaves very little time for their personal lives or their mental health. This dichotomy has caused a myriad of issues for superheroes as they try to juggle their ever-increasing responsibilities. Many put away the stress until it becomes overwhelming, forcing them to suffer intense problems which inevitably puts the world at risk because of their incredible powers. With all the power that superheroes possess, so few of them have a firm grasp on their mental health that it leaves them incredibly vulnerable. But Moon Knight has shown the solution to these problems which so few heroes use, a power stronger than any other, the incredible superpower of therapy.
Moon Knight #7 (by Jed McKay, Federico Sabbatini, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Cory Petit) continues the titular character’s search for his new supervillain, while at the same time proving that his experiences with therapy have made him a significantly more capable superhero. Having explored facets of his life that he previously kept under several layers of mental security, Moon Knight has now dived fully into his mission as New York’s protector of the night’s travelers.
Since his inception, Moon Knight has never been the most stable of heroes, in part because of his dissociative identity disorder (DID) and being in constant contact with the eldritch god Khonshu. After almost defeating the Avengers in “Age of Khonshu,” they allowed him to continue working as a superhero only if he agreed to continually see a therapist that specializes in dealing with superheroes’ mental health issues. Previously, Moon Knight moved from one identity to another with many people never being quite sure which they were talking to at any given point. After multiple sessions with his therapist, he has been mostly free of any DID-related mental breaks for weeks. While people never quite knew which identity they were talking to before, this newfound mental stability allowed Moon Knight to interact with people and build a community around his Midnight Mission. Because therapy allowed him to work through the darkness kept within himself, it allowed him to regain full control of both his body and his mind.
Much like Moon Knight, many heroes in the Marvel universe struggle with mental health issues that have kept them from forming bonds with their peers and caused them to lash out at the world. Hulk and Scarlet Witch, two heroes that have long struggled with serious mental health problems, have incredible powers. But their poor mental health has kept them from achieving their full potential. In Hulk’s case, Bruce Banner’s pent-up rage has caused his personality to fracture into multiple different versions of the Hulk, like Joe Fixit or Green Scar. It’s only when he’s able to work out his anger that his personalities coalesce into one form, one with all the strength of the Hulk mixed with the intelligence of Bruce Banner.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlet Witch is the best example of how dealing with trauma poorly can be devastating. Because of her magical powers, the trauma caused by losing Vision extended from her mind and caused her to hold Westview hostage. In a twisted way, she manipulated the townspeople into functioning as her therapist at grievous cost to their own agency. If she had access to proper care, the Westview Anomaly would have never happened because she would have been able to work out her problems in a safe space.
Both Hulk and Scarlet Witch are monumentally powerful beings whose mastery over their powers is greatly diminished because they lack control of their minds. Whenever they are given access to therapy, to the ability to work through any mental health issues they face, their mental state radically improves and so do their powers. While Moon Knight is not on par with the two aforementioned heroes, his experiences with therapy show how important it is for superheroes to work through any mental health issues they have. Because he analyzed the parts of himself that he kept hidden away, Moon Knight became a much better hero, capable of bringing his powers to another level. If more heroes had access to the incredible power of therapy, they could become the paragons of heroism they’ve always strived to be.
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