The Easter Egg You May Have Missed In Moon Knight Episode 1
Longtime comic book fans have been waiting an awfully long time to see Moon Knight make his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The time has finally come as "Moon Knight" has arrived on Disney+, with Oscar Isaac bringing the character to life for the first time in live-action. The premiere episode was, to say the very least, not quite like anything we've seen in the MCU to date, and it oddly has more in common with "Venom" than any pre-existing MCU thing (though it's not quite as altogether unhinged).
In any case, one thing that remains a reliable element of the MCU is the presence of many Easter eggs that connect the movie or TV show in question to the larger world of Marvel Comics. However, "Moon Knight" is especially lacking in that department, which is actually a good thing. Despite this approach, there is one particular Easter egg that fans may have missed in the episode, as it came at a pivotal moment where a whole lot was going on.
Warning: spoilers ahead for "Moon Knight" episode 1. Proceed with caution.
The Moon Knight Easter egg in question
Much of the episode follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered museum gift shop worker who has some odd issues he's trying to sort out. For him, he thinks he just has perplexing sleep issues and intense dreams. In reality, he's at the mercy of another personality named Marc Spector, who is a markedly different man in a variety of ways. Towards the end of the premiere episode, Steven discovers a cell phone in his apartment that doesn't belong to him, with quite a few missed calls from someone named "Layla."
While Steven ultimately has a chat with Layla, someone who clearly knows Marc and not Steven, as he's scrolling through the contacts, another name briefly comes up that reads "Duchamp." For those who have read "Moon Knight" comics, this name should be familiar, as this is a character who is very much a part of this world.
Who is Frenchie?
In the pages of Marvel Comics, Jean-Paul Duchamp, AKA Frenchie, is one of Marc Spector's closest friends and allies. Think what Alfred means to Batman, or what Harry Osborn means to Peter Parker before the whole Green Goblin of it all. That makes him an incredibly important part of the "Moon Knight" lore, and it's not at all insignificant that the show's first episode tipped its cap to the man.
So, who is this Frenchie fella, exactly? Created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin, he first appeared in the pages of "Werewolf by Night" #32 in 1975. Marc and Frenchie meet in Africa as mercenaries, with Duchamp serving as part of the French Foreign Legion. Following Marc's whole encounter with an Egyptian God that turns him into a superhero, Frenchie becomes an aid to him, serving as a pilot aiding him in his early days as a costumed fighter of evil.
Will Frenchie actually show up in the series? That would make sense, but there is no confirmation one way or the other at this point. At the very least, this implies that Marc knows him and they have interacted before. So that door is certainly open. But for now, it's just an Easter egg.
"Moon Knight" is streaming now on Disney+.