Hilarious fan art of Moon Knight pairs the lethal vigilante with a villain fans will know from the MCU, making the hero the scarier half of the duo. In a series of genius fan art comics starring Moon Knight, Marc Spector is paired with a villain fans may know from the MCU, setting up the perfect frenemy relationship between Marvel’s most brutal Avenger and the cutthroat assassin Taskmaster.
The MCU’s Black Widow, the movie changed pretty much everything about the villain but their abilities. In the comics, Taskmaster is Tony Masters – an expert assassin with superhuman photographic reflexes that allow him to replicate any combat move he’s witnessed, whether in real life or via video. While Taskmaster is a tragic figure in the MCU, the comics portray him as one of the most laid back supervillains – a highly capable killer who knows how to read a situation and make his escape before consequences arrive. While Moon Knight and Taskmaster are both skilled fighters, their fan art pairing builds on the fact that the two have a seemingly inconsequential similarity in their costumes.
A series of panels shared on Twitter by creator Kim Hu, Taskmaster and Moon Knight are paired together due to a fan request to draw the two holding hands. Taskmaster is visibly worried, likely given Moon Knight’s reputation for carving the faces off his opponents. In a follow-up, however, the pair have made enough peace to swap their relatively similar capes and cowls, with Marc expressing disdain for Taskmaster’s orange cape lining. Things only break down from there, with Moon Knight accosting Tony in front of fellow villain Black Ant, leading a surprising character to bring them back together. Throughout their interactions, Taskmaster remains rightly afraid of Moon Knight, though later entries show the two forced to ‘bond’ thanks to the efforts of Zodiac – a twisted killer who is currently trying to unlock Marc’s own brutality in Marvel’s ongoing comics. Kim Hu has drawn plenty of similar comics of Taskmaster, shared on Twitter, but this series in which he’s paired with Moon Knight has the unusual accomplishment of establishing a hero/villain pairing where the do-gooder is infinitely more terrifying than the supposed bad guy.
Marvel Comics, Taskmaster is no joke, even taking down Marvel’s Superman pastiche Hyperion with specialized weaponry. However, despite his incredible skills, Tony Masters officially hates fighting Moon Knight, because Marc’s chosen fighting style is so built around deliberate self-abuse, replicating it is almost as dangerous as losing. While Moon Knight is trying to walk a healthier path since leaving his former god, Khonshu, he’s still prone to some truly dark deeds, especially with Zodiac pushing his buttons. Taskmaster and Moon Knight have clashed in the past, Kim Hu’s amazing fan art – which cleverly responds to multiple fan suggestions – will have Marvel fans wishing for a ‘buddy’ series where the usually carefree assassin has to navigate a partnership with the blood-soaked vigilante. Taskmaster’s 2021 miniseries from Jed MacKay and Alessandro Vitti remains a highlight of last year’s Marvel comics, so hopefully Marvel will take the cue of Moon Knight’s own recent MCU popularity to pair the two up again in future comics.