Who is Ronin Now?
April 18, 2007 | 1 Comment
Ronin joined the New Avengers last year when she helped them out in Japan. It was later revealed that Ronin was in fact Maya Lopez formerly known as Echo. She was good friends with Matt Murdock, in fact they had a off an on relationship for awhile. Lopez was raised by Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin after he killed her father.
She was born deaf, but with the gift of being able to reproduce anything she saw anyone do. This includes playing the piano, fighting styles, flying planes, etc. It makes her a formidable opponent, especially if she has witnessed someone fight in the past.
After revealing herself to Captain America, Iron Man, and the rest of the New Avengers, she returned to Japan to infiltrate the organized crime group “The Hand”. When Civil War broke out shortly after, her contact with the Avengers was broken.
Following Civil War, she contacted Matt Murdock as she feared being captured or defeated by Elektra (leader of The Hand). He in turn told Iron Fist, who told the New Avengers she needed help.
By the time the new New Avengers arrived in Japan, Maya had been killed and resurrected by Elektra. Clearly Elektra intended to convert her to The Hand’s cause.
The interesting thing about all of this, Ronin arrived with the New Avengers. So the question is, who is Ronin now? Considering the fact that she contacted Murdock to help her, that’d be my initial guess. However… The picture to the right shows Maya and Ronin’s first interaction which seems to indicate this is not Matt…
The only other hints come from author Brian Michael Bendis in a Newsarama interview: “It’s someone with a long history in the Marvel Universe. There are quite a few people it could be, and it’s not necessarily the person you immediately go to, but it’s someone I have an affection for who also has a history of donning a guise that best suits his or her mental tone. And this is his or her mental tone right now. And it just so happens there is a costume that needs filling and a person who can fill it, and so it’s taken.”
If I was to take bets, these are the odds I’d give on who Ronin will turn out to be:
Clint Barton (Hawkeye) - 3:2
James “Bucky” Buchanan Barnes (Winter Soldier) - 3:1
Nick Fury - 5:1
Sharon Carter - 20:1
Jessica Jones - 40:1
Frank Castle (Punisher) - 50:1
Marc Spector (Moon Knight) - 100:1
Matt Murdock (Daredevil) - 250:1
Wade Wilson (Deadpool) - 500:1
Tony Stark (Iron Man) - 10,000:1
Steve Rogers (Captain America) - 1,000,000:1
Tags: avengers, bendis, brian michael bendis, bucky, captain america, civil war, clint barton, daredevil, deadpool, echo, elektra, frank castle, hawkeye, iron man, james buchanan, jessica jones, kingpin, luke cage, marc spector, marvel, matt murdock, maya lopez, moon knight, new avengers, nick fury, punisher, Ronin, sharon carter, suit, the hand, tony stark, wade wilson, wilson fisk, Winter Soldier
Moon Knight TV Series Coming Soon
October 25, 2006 | 12 Comments
Marvel announced today a deal with No Equal Entertainment to create Marvel’s character Moon Knight as a television series. Moon Knight is not the most well known of Marvel’s heroes, but he certainly has the potential for development. After many short and semi-successful comic series going back to 1975. Moon Knight did not experience real success until the 80’s when he managed to sustain 60 issues or so.
I count Moon Knight amongst Marvel’s other 70’s era vigilantes who have seen medium success, more so in the 80’s to early 90’s. Each of these heroes is currently being explored and expanded in new series by Marvel currently. These heroes include: Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Power Man, and Punisher.
Since most people aren’t familiar with MK, from the Wikipedia character analysis:
Moon Knight is often criticized as an ersatz Batman and the parallels are indeed apparent. Writer of the 2006 relaunch of Moon Knight, Charlie Huston, attempted to answer these criticisms in an interview with Comixfan. The interviewer noted that the comparison is not baseless, as both Moon Knight and the Dark Knight are wealthy, “normal” humans that use gadgetry to fight crime. Though not specifically mentioned by the interviewer, further comparisons may be drawn due to the two characters’ specialized vehicles, use of themes in their gadgets, and use of fear to aid their fight against the criminal element.
Huston, though he disagreed, accepted that the character may be a rip-off of Batman, but went on to contrast the two by noting in particular differences in origin, motives, and personality. “Bruce Wayne,” he said, “fights crime to avenge the murders of his parents,” whereas Moon Knight “beats up whoever has it coming because he believes he is the avatar of the Egyptian god of vengeance and it helps him to feel better about all the people he killed when he was a mercenary.” Thus, while Batman is motivated by vengeance for wrong done to his parents, Marc Spector primarily seeks redemption from crimes he committed in his mercenary past. Huston further notes that Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alterego, takes on other personalities merely to aid in his fight. However, Moon Knight has three alteregos which aid him as much in dealing with personal demons as fighting law-breakers, and which have taken a further psychological toll of causing multiple personality disorder.
I actually think Moon Knight has the potential to be developed into a useful TV franchise. Since few people are familiar with the character, he can be expanded and developed in whatever ways the writers want to take them. Additionally, with his Batman-like characterization, there is plenty to fall back on. Add to that the dark and twisted features mixed with the multiple personality stuff and suddenly this vigilante story can go mainstream.
With this in mind, I remain hopeful. I’ll be paying close attention to casting and hopefully No Equal Entertainment can pull off a hit TV show with this. Anything has to be better than the short lived Blade Series…
Tags: batman, blade, charlie huston, comic books, comics, iron fist, marc spector, marvel, moon knight, no equal entertainment, power man, punisher, television