Shadow Knight (Randall Spector) is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

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s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, commonly as an adversary of his brother, the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a rabbi, Marc S ...

. A young Randall makes his

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

debut in the

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(MCU) television

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'', played by Claudio Fabian Contreras.

Publication history

Randall Spector was introduced in the "backup feature" of ''Hulk! Magazine'' #17 in October 1979 as a mysterious

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

known as the Hatchet-Man who violently murders nurses around

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attempts to stop the murders and eventually deduces that the killer is his estranged brother Randall. In #18, Moon Knight confronts his brother in

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and a fight ensues in which Randall is killed. This was later

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

by writer

Howard Mackie Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958) is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character. Early life Mack ...

to be an impostor, and in ''Marc Spector: Moon Knight'' #33 and #35–38, Randall returns. During the '' Shadowland'' crossover, writer

Gregg Hurwitz Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Most of his novels are in the thriller fiction genre. His script writing work includes a film adaptation of his book '' Orphan X'', a TV adaptation of Joby Warri ...

and artist

Ron Garney Ron Garney is an American comic book writer/artist, known for his work on books such as ''JLA (comic book), JLA'', ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Silver Surfer'', ''Hulk'', ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series), Daredevil'' and ''Captain America (com ...

wrote a three issue limited series where Moon Knight deals with his brother in a final confrontation. This is also the first time Randall is referred to as Marc's younger brother; in all previous appearances, it has been clearly stated that Randall is the older sibling such as in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #28 where Marc refers to Randal as "MY BIG BROTHER. MY HERO."

Fictional character biography

Spector was born in

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, and is the son of

Elias Spector Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to ...

, a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

who survived

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persecution. Randall and Marc are brothers, and at times both have been cast as the avatars of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Randall Spector grew up with his brother Marc, playing army games with him. He followed his brother into the Marine Corps, and eventually they both became mercenaries in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It was later discovered that Randall killed Marc's then-nurse girlfriend. Marc chased his brother until there was a confrontation. Marc threw a grenade at Randall's sniper position, thinking he killed him, but then Randall returns to New York on a murder spree focused on killing nurses with a

hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French language, Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a Tool, single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side ...

. Moon Knight uses his girlfriend Marlene as bait, but he can't stop being stabbed. He swears revenge but cannot kill his brother. Randall then jumps at Marc, but he dodges; however, Randall impales himself in a tree branch. It is later revealed that the person killed was not Randall but an impostor with implanted memories. Randall is actually a member of the Cult of Khonshu, having been mystically enhanced with impenetrable skin and superhuman strength by Princess

Nephthys Nephthys or Nebet-Het in ancient Egyptian () was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis ...

. During the '' Shadowland'' storyline, Randall mysteriously re-emerged as the Shadow Knight, convinced by The Profile that he is the next Khonshu

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

on Earth. Sharing essentially all of the Moon Knight's powers, except that he can emit a radioactive blast from his eyes, the two are almost evenly matched. Randall attacks Moon Knight's pregnant girlfriend, Marlene. The two eventually meet up in

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following the mysterious Sapphire Crescent. Randall ends up using a hostage as a shield with a bomb, and Moon Knight is out of throwing crescents; however, Moon Knight launches the Sapphire Crescent and kills his brother. The Shadow Knight made his return in Strange #4 as a revenant, under the direction of the Blasphemy Cartel, enemies of Clea Strange. His body was taken over by rebellious dead souls that reanimated it and fought Clea Strange and her mother, the warlord Umar.

Powers and abilities

Nepthys' "lunar treatments" granted him superhuman strength and external durability, although his internal organs were like those of a normal human's. Randall Spector possessed extensive training in espionage and military combat tactics. However, he was barely able to access these skills after becoming insane. Randalls hellbent genes give him the ability to absorb other people's life force to enhance himself.

Equipment

As the Hatchet-Man, he used an off-the-shelf Halloween mask to hide his face. As Shadow Knight, he wore Kevlar body armor for further protection.

Weapons

Wooden-handled hatchet.

In other media

A young Randall Spector appears in flashbacks in the

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miniseries ''

'' episode "

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

", portrayed by Claudio Fabian Contreras. This version died in a flooded cave that he and his older brother Marc found. As the latter survived, their embittered mother Wendy blamed him for Randall's death, which caused her to become abusive towards Marc, who consequently developed dissociative identity disorder and created Steven Grant to protect himself from her.

References

External links

Randall Spector
at Marvel Wiki {{Moon Knight Characters created by Bill Sienkiewicz Characters created by Doug Moench Comics characters introduced in 1979 Fictional American Jews in comics Fictional characters from Chicago Fictional mercenaries in comics Fictional serial killers Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male supervillains Marvel Comics military personnel Marvel Comics supervillains Moon Knight