Ever since it was confirmed that Christian Bale would play Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, fans began expecting the Marvel Cinematic Universe to quickly fill up with gods for the villain to slaughter. Many had suspected that Moon Knight would be an opportune time to introduce multiple gods to the universe besides Marc Spector's god, Khonshu.
The Direct reported in late-2020 that Moon Knight was casting for several actors that were speculated to be for the Egyptian pantheon. However, the latest episode of Moon Knight shows that those casting calls were likely not for the gods themselves but their Avatars.
Now, with searches for those gods in the MCU, the third episode of Oscar Isaac's MCU series has shed some light on that concept.
The Ennead Arrives in the MCU
The latest episode of Moon Knight has introduced audiences to the Ennead, which currently comprises five members of the Egyptian pantheon: Horus, Isis, Tefnut, Osiris, and Hathor.
In this episode, their respective Avatars are played by Declan Hannigan, Nagisa Morimoto, Hayley Konadu, Selim's Khalid Abdalla, and finally, Yatzil's Díana Bermudez. Thus far, the latter two are the only Avatars with given names.
The strained relationship between Khonshu and his fellow Egyptian gods and why they banished him is finally explained as the moon god involving himself too much in the human realm and "nearly exposing us," according to Osiris.
However, as Oscar Isaac's Steven Grant pointed out in the first episode, there should be nine members of the Ennead. So, including Khonshu and Ammit, there are still two Egyptian gods missing: Anubis, the god of death, and Seth, the god of war.
Who Are These Egyptian Gods?
In the comics, aside from Khonshu himself and Seth, the Egyptian pantheon, much like it is being portrayed in the MCU, often doesn't involve themselves with humanity. They are usually happy to sequester themselves in the safety of the Overvoid instead, which was actually name-dropped by Kohnshu in this latest episode.
From how Yatzil announces each member of the Ennead, it appears that Horus is currently the leader of the Egyptian gods. As for the comics, he is treated as the god of justice and retribution.
Followed by Horus is Isis, the goddess of fertility and domestication.
And then there's Osiris, the god of the dead.
The three of them interacted with Thor, Odin, and The Thing of the Fantastic Four when they saved the Egyptian gods from Seth's imprisonment.
In the series, Hathor is the goddess of music and love, like mythology, but she is known in the comics for transforming into the Lion god Sekhmet. This god was mentioned briefly before in the MCU by Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa in Captain America: Civil War, alongside the panther goddess, Bast. But, it's unknown whether Hathor will be a separate goddess from Sekhmet, but only time will tell for sure.
Finally, Tefnut, an entirely minor deity in the comics, is the goddess of the rain, but she bore two children, Geb and Nut, who would later aid Thor, Odin, and the Black Knight in defeating Seth.
Fans will undoubtedly find out more about the Ennead as Moon Knight continues to stream on Disney+ every Wednesday.
