Moon Knight vs. Black Panther: Who Would Win & Why?

Moon Knight is a fan favorite character wearing an all-white costume, casting vengeance upon anybody who he believes deserves it, using high technology in the process. On the other hand, Black Panther wears an all-black suit and also has incredible technology, but uses different methods. So, if Moon Knight and Black Panther ever fought, who would win?

Black Panther would win against Moon Knight almost every time. They have similar skills, abilities, and skill levels. However, Black Panther uses vibranium, whereas Moon Knight uses adamantium. Vibranium is more adaptable and has special properties, giving the Panther an edge.

There are ways for Moon Knight to win, of course. His unpredictability, ruthlessness, and brutal fighting style are enough to compete against anybody. I’ll analyze their skills, abilities, and matchups to determine who would come out on top.

Adamantium Vs. Vibranium

Moon Knight used all kinds of technology throughout his vigilante career. Some versions of his suit contained carbonadium, an unstable metal with properties that could disrupt other people’s healing factor. For instance, if Wolverine gets cut with carbonadium, his healing factor won’t repair the damage.

However, Moon Knight is best known for his use of adamantium, both for his armor and weaponry, such as the crescent-shaped darts. Adamantium is one of the strongest metals on Earth – the one that Wolverine’s skeleton and claws are coated with. It is quite strong – nearly the strongest metal around.

Opposingly, Black Panther is the King of Wakanda – a country that lies on the biggest vibranium mine on the planet. Vibranium is just as strong – maybe even stronger – than adamantium, but it also has special properties. The people of Wakanda used it for generations to develop the world’s most advanced technology.

Panther’s weapons, and suit, are made entirely out of vibranium. It’s almost unbreakable and has spectacular energy-absorption capabilities. When Black Panther gets hit, the energy behind the hit is absorbed, and the Panther can blast it right back at the attacker in a strong wave of kinetic energy.

Adamantium and vibranium were pitted against each other numerous times in the comics. And while adamantium is denser and could potentially break pure vibranium, the remarkable special properties that vibranium possesses give Black Panther the edge here.

Note that Moon Knight doesn’t have an entire suit made out of adamantium, only some parts of the armor – whereas Black Panther uses vibranium in a million ways. The King of Wakanda takes the point for this category.

Black Panther,1 : Moon Knight, 0

Moon Knight vs Black Panther: Combat Skills

Black Panther is known as one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the world. His martial arts skills are amazing, and T’Challa can go one-on-one against almost anybody and stand his ground. 

The Black Panther superpowers also give him incredible agility, balance, and reflexes, which he uses in battle and displays phenomenal acrobatics. On top of all those skills comes the vibranium, furthermore increasing Black Panther’s strength in combat. That being said, Moon Knight is no slouch himself.

Before becoming the feared vigilante, Marc Spector was a professional boxer, a former CIA agent, and later, one of the best mercenaries in the world. He is such a prolific martial artist and combatant with a unique skillset and fighting style that even the Taskmaster fears and dreads.

There aren’t many Marvel characters who can match Moon Knight in close combat. Sure, he’s prolific in marksmanship, too, but if he gets close enough, he can beat almost anybody. He doesn’t fear getting hit. 

Defending strikes or avoiding damage takes away from one’s offensive game. Well, Moon Knight doesn’t have that problem. Absorbing damage opens up the enemy and gives Marc the opportunity to attack when the opponent is most vulnerable.

Overall, Black Panther and Moon Knight are two spectacular combatants with very different fighting styles, equipment, and skills. It’s hard to say that one is better than the other, so I believe both deserve points in this category.

Black Panther,2 : Moon Knight, 1

Moon Knight vs Black Panther: Intelligence & Sanity

Due to severe mental health issues, Moon Knight’s intelligence sometimes doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Marc Spector is an amazing tactician and strategist with incredible detective skills. While he can’t match other Marvel geniuses intellectually, such as Bruce Banner or even Peter Parker, Spector’s intelligence deserves recognition.

That being said, his mental health is always an issue. After being resurrected by Khonshu, Spector developed a dissociative identity disorder coupled with psychotic schizophrenia. Marc has several personalities battling for control inside him and often hears voices, sees hallucinations, etc.

He’s as insane as it gets, which sometimes helps him during vigilante work (being fearless and brutal), but sometimes, it can be challenging for Spector to cope with.

On the other hand, Black Panther is completely sane. He follows a strict moral code and honors tradition, but at the same time, he deals with the most complex technology you can find on Earth.

King T’Challa is incredibly intelligent, too. He’s a certified genius, especially in the comics. His knowledge in technology, engineering, and scientific developments revolving around vibranium put him near the top of the list of Earth’s most brilliant minds.

Therefore, Moon Knight is intelligent, but his insanity somewhat limits his intellectual prowess, whereas Black Panther is extremely intelligent and completely sane. T’Challa gets the point for this category.

Black Panther,3 : Moon Knight, 1

Moon Knight vs Black Panther: Resources

Moon Knight developed a personality under the name Steven Grant. He used Marc Spector’s modest life savings on Wall Street and turned them into a huge fortune. That helped Moon Knight’s vigilante work immensely (and also made fans draw parallels between Moon Knight and Batman).

He uses his newfound wealth to develop high-tech equipment and weaponry, vehicles, and much more. Moon Knight is incredibly wealthy, but his resources are somewhat limited and dependent upon Steven Grant’s business success.

That can’t be said for Black Panther. T’Challa is the King of Wakanda, a hidden, highly-advanced African country with huge amounts of vibranium, which they use to develop remarkable technology. The Black Panther’s powers are transferred from generation to generation, and King T’Challa is one of many who proudly wore the mantle before him.

That being said, T’Challa’s resources are virtually limitless, thanks to the vibranium and his royal status. The technology that Black Panther considered everyday stuff is unfathomable to the rest of the world.

If I had to pick one, I’d say Black Panther has the better resources and technology, but Moon Knight is right up there in terms of wealth, so I believe both characters deserve points in this category.

Black Panther,4 : Moon Knight, 2

Moon Knight vs Black Panther: Comics fights

Moon Knight and Black Panther are pure contrast appearance-wise and philosophy-wise, so it’s not surprising that the matchup made quite a cool comic book material. They fought several times and worked together several more, but I want to point out one particular fight that showed how powerful (and smart) the Black Panther is.

In the Age of Khonshu storyline, namely Avengers #33-34, Khonshu feared that the infamous demon Mephisto might make a move to try and conquer Earth. So, he bestowed magical ankhs upon Moon Knight so he could steal and absorb the powers of other Avengers, making Khonshu powerful enough to defeat Mephisto.

Little did he know that Khonshu only used his insanity to his advantage, taking control over the Earth himself after defeating the demon. Moon Knight stole the powers of Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, and Iron Fist, and even defeated Thor – before coming across Black Panther.

Moon Knight tried stealing his powers, too, but couldn’t – because Black Panther’s power lies within, inside his blood, and the only way Moon Knight could get to it is killing T’Challa, which would lead to the powers being lost.

Instead of killing Black Panther, Khonshu’s empire incarcerated the ruler of Wakanda with huge chains to try and take away his powers. As it turns out, Black Panther willingly got there to try and convince Moon Knight that Khonshu’s quest is wrong, but Moon Knight believes it’s the only way to stop Mephisto.

Seeing that there’s no changing his mind, Black Panther easily breaks free from the chains and escapes imprisonment. Later, in Avengers #36, Black Panther confronts Moon Knight – who still has Ghost Rider’s flames – and the fight results in Marc Spector realizing that Khonshu was manipulating him all along.

He relinquishes the powers and gives up on Khonshu completely. Even though Spector knew he would lose all his powers and just be a regular human, Black Panther managed to show him the right way. For that, he deserves the point here.

Black Panther,5 : Moon Knight, 2

Moon Knight Vs. Black Panther: Who Wins?

In the end, the scoreboard says 5:2 in Black Panther’s favor. It seems like a lopsided victory for T’Challa, but it’s actually much closer than that. Under the right circumstances, Moon Knight could beat Black Panther with his brutality, indomitable will, and relentless violence.

If he sets his mind to destroying somebody, there’s no stopping the Fist of Khonshu. As reasonable as Black Panther is, and as great of a combatant he might be, if Moon Knight falls into the violent madness (like many times before), there’s nothing T’Challa could do to stop him. Even if he wins the battle, the war presses on because Moon Knight never stops.

That being said, Black Panther would still win most of their battles. Adamantium is denser than vibranium and harder to destroy, but Black Panther’s vibranium has special properties that can be used in battle very effectively.

They are around the same strength level, which would be about 2-ton weight lifting, and have similar combat skills, despite having completely different styles.

That means it would all come down to available resources, intelligence, and sanity – and Black Panther has an advantage in all those aspects.

Black Panther wins against Moon Knight at least 7/10 times.