Moon Knight: Who is Duchamp?

The premiere episode of Marvel’s Moon Knight is out now on Disney+! “The Goldfish Problem” kicked off the season with a bang, introducing viewers to Steven Grant aka Marc Spector aka Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac) in a mind-bending adventure that wastes no time getting right to the nitty gritty. We may not know why Spector was stealing a golden scarab from cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), or when exactly the vigilante hero got his powers from the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, but we can assume we’ll find all that out along with Steven.

Even though Moon Knight’s premiere episode stood pretty well on its own, it wouldn’t be a Marvel thing if it didn’t throw in some easter eggs for fans to obsess over. In this case, there’s a particular name that popped up briefly that alludes to a character who may or may not appear in the show at some point.

We’ll be getting into some mild SPOILERS for Moon Knight beyond. Ye hath been warned.

Who is Duchamp in Moon Knight?

Around halfway through the episode, Steven Grant discovers an old flip phone and a mysterious key hidden in a secret compartment in his apartment. Curious, Steven scrolls through a very long list of missed calls, all of which are from someone named Layla…except for one. The screen lingers for a second as Steven pauses over the name “Duchamp,” before scrolling on.

Jean-Paul Duchamp is not a character who has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date, but he is an important figure in the Moon Knight comic books. Like Marc Spector, Duchamp is a mercenary who had taken on contracts in North Africa. He was formerly a member of the French Foreign Legion before going freelance, where he met Marc. The two became close friends, which led to him becoming involved in the incident where Spector gained his Moon Knight powers. It was during this period that Spector also gave Duchamp his trademark nickname, “Frenchie.”

After Spector became Moon Knight, Duchamp decided to continue assisting him in his vigilante work, often piloting the superhero around to one mission or another. The two have had a long and tumultuous relationship, since Spector can be a bit of a handful. In later comics, Duchamp retires to become a restauranteur, though his ties to Spector have had a tendency to pull him back into the superhero game.

It hasn’t been announced whether we’ll see Duchamp in Moon Knight or if this easter egg is simply there as a bit of fun. But given how much Marvel likes to work on a grand scale, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn up.

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h/t GamesRadar+