Moon Knight’s most popular meme has him confront Dracula for money but what actually occurred in the classic comic book story?
As Moon Knight makes his big Marvel Cinematic Universe debut with a Marvel Studios produced Disney+ series, bringing the hard-hitting, lunar-themed superhero to his widest audience. One of the most famous comic book images circulating online featuring Moon Knight has the vengeful hero descending down the stairs of a castle while demanding that Count Dracula pay him, with a comedic amount of profanity is leveled at the off-panel vampire. Of course, this panel isn’t actually how the exchange originally appeared in the comic book source material, with the origins of this popular meme predictably much more sedate in the actual story.
The panel in question, with Moon Knight walking down the stone staircase is from 1987’s Solo Avengers #3 (by Tom DeFalco, Mark Bright, Josef Rubinstein, Ken Feduniewicz and Jack Morelli) in the story “Tower of Shadows.” While Dracula does indeed exist as a vampiric supervillain in the Marvel Universe, Moon Knight is at the castle on behalf a different classic horror archetype: Werewolf by Night. Moon Knight was introduced in 1975’s Werewolf by Night #32 (created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin) and had been linked to the lycanthrope ever since. And rather than being set in Transylvania or some other sinister locale, the castle was located in Southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains, showcasing a more ominous side to the Golden State.
“Tower of Shadows” took place at a time when Moon Knight was a member of the West Coast Avengers, helping the team search for a shadowy figure on the loose. Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night’s human alter ego, told Moon Knight that there was information at the castle that could potentially aid the investigation, with Moon Knight approaching the castle along. Instead, Moon Knight found the castle to be filled with deadly boobytraps, surviving them all alongside another nocturnal superhero Shroud. The entire castle adventure is revealed to be an elaborate ruse to see if Moon Knight is worthy to join the new supernatural superhero team the Night Shift, which includes Werewolf by Night. Despite matching the team’s sensibilities, Moon Knight ultimately turns down the Night Shift’s offer.
The meme appears to be created by the Facebook group Moon Knight-Core, a fan group dedicated to making humorous and appreciative posts about the superhero. In the years since the original meme’s popularity has spread online, the Facebook group has poked fun at their own comical creation. This self-awareness about the meme’s enduring appeal has led the group to modify the panel and address being inundated with the meme along with current events that could prompt Moon Knight to make demands of the unseen Dracula.
For many of the unfamiliar, the Moon Knight Dracula meme is perhaps the most visible representation of the character in the public eye. It’s funny joke that pokes fun at Marc Spector’s mercenary background, brutal nature and connections to the more supernatural side of the Marvel Universe and one that has led to an entire wave of Moon Knight-inspired memes eschewing the obsessive loner aspects of the character. Moon Knight can be stoically stern and humorless and these memes take full advantage of that omnipresent demeanor.
While Blade similarly slated to play a bigger role in the MCU, following his off-screen cameo in Eternals‘ post-credits scene, the Marvel iteration of Dracula may not be far behind. This could potentially set up Moon Knight and the Lord of Vampires to play off of the popular meme, should their paths ever cross in the MCU. In the meantime, Moon Knight and the “Tower of Shadows” story arc remains a fun story in the superhero’s history, subverted and popularized by a meme that takes the tale into a completely different direction.
Created for television by Jeremy Slater, Moon Knight premieres March 30 on Disney+.
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