Zoe Tunnell: With the announcement of your new Moon Knight ongoing alongside Black Cat and the Infinite Destinies crossover you’re heavily involved in it feels like a bit of a moment for you as a writer with Marvel! How do you feel about your metaphorical time in the spotlight?
Jed MacKay: It’s kind of weird- I’m not really used to that level of attention, so when the Moon Knight news broke I had to turn off notifications and step away from Twitter for a couple of days. It’s a strange contradiction- you’re out there trying to promote your work and get people to read it, and then when the dam breaks (as it does every once in a while) you’re not sure how to deal with the flood, haha.
That said, I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to work on stories that are so exciting to me- Black Cat has been a dream book since issue #1, and now getting the chance to tell some Moon Knight stories has been a thrill. As a freelancer, you never let yourself get too comfortable as even when you’re up, you’re always waiting for that other shoe to drop, but I’m really happy with what I’m working on now.
Zoe: Starting with Moon Knight: Marc Spector has had an interesting past decade, with half a dozen creative teams putting their own spin on the character over a few different volumes. Your take on Moon Knight seems to be more grounded and “street-level” than some recent interpretations, while still keeping the inherent weird vibes Moon Knight requires. Is this an intentional choice to step away from recent runs or is there another source of inspiration fueling you?
Jed: It’s no secret that I love street-level stuff, and to me, Moon Knight belongs on the street. He’s the weird street-level guy who deals with weird street-level stuff, and I think there’s a space for him there that just works. In this series, we’re working on establishing that space for him, showing readers what the Moon Knight corner of the world looks like. Moon Knight has always been a misfit and an outsider, and I think that looking at what it looks like when he starts to build a life for himself is going to be interesting.
Zoe: Between his living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, his on-again-off-again relationship with Khonshu, and his legacy as the son of a rabbi there are a lot of different hooks within Marc Spector that past runs have highlighted in varying degrees. Are there any specific aspects of Moon Knight, as a character, that really grabbed your interest?
Jed: All of those things play into our story- when we meet Marc in Moon Knight #1, he’s starting over again after the disastrous Age of Khonshu, and part of starting over is evaluating who, really, you are- and who you want to be. Your regrets over the past and your resolutions for the future, and whether the latter can overcome the former. Marc’s an extremely complicated person, and he’s working on letting people in, but it’s also something that has never gone well for him in the long run.
It’s also particularly difficult to figure out who you want to be moving forward when you’re a walking mess of contradictions. Marc’s a priest of a god he betrayed and imprisoned. He’s a Jew who wears the vestments of a god who oppressed his people. He’s a superhero (with a cape, even) none of the other superheroes like or trust. He’s Mr. Knight, the altruistic proprietor of the Midnight Mission, and Moon Knight, the bringer of violence by night.
He’s got a lot to work through.
Zoe: This is your first time working with Alessandro Cappuccio and his first work with Marvel. The preview pages, frankly, look absolutely stunning so I’m sure you’re happy with his joining you on Moon Knight. Is there any specific touch that Cappuccio has shown on the book that’s wowed you so far?
Jed: Alessandro has been fantastic to work with through the whole process, bringing an unbridled enthusiasm to the book that shines through in the pages. His Moon Knight in particular is moody and atmospheric- he’s fully internalized Declan’s 2014 costume and drenched it in light and shadows in a way reminiscent of the “black and silver” Sienkiewicz Moon Knight. I’ve just been going over some fight pages from Moon Knight #3 (which, to be honest, is mostly fight pages) and it’s some really hard-hitting, visceral stuff that I think people are going to be really excited by.
The other part of that equation is Rachelle Rosenberg, who’s been coloring the book. Her Moon Knight almost glows, giving him a ghostly quality against the gloomy night time colors of the city.
It’s all looking great!
Zoe: Let’s jump over to Black Cat, a book I’ve already written about a lot for CXF and love dearly. As something of a surprise success, both critically and commercially, has your approach to the title changed following its warm welcome by fans and successful relaunch?
Jed: Not really? If anything, the surprising amount of success Black Cat has had was kind of proof that we were going in the right direction, that there was an audience for the kind of tone and stories that we wanted to tell with the character. Black Cat has always been a book where we wanted to have some fun- I often call it the spiritual successor to our 2018 Daughters of the Dragon run- and it’s been an opportunity to get into all the things I like best in comics: outlandish adventure, high spirits and jokes, continuity deep cuts and as much heart as we can put in something. I’m just grateful that it found its footing and that fans, old and new, got into it. We’ve solicited up to #9 of the new volume, which would be legacy #21- all for a book we thought would be lucky to make it to ten issues.
Zoe: Felicia Hardy has joined the ranks of Marvel’s LGBTQ character roster thanks to your run confirming her as a Bi woman, something this interviewer is personally grateful for. Was this direction something you knew you wanted to explore when you first launched Black Cat with Travel Foreman back in 2018? If not, when did you make the decision, and were there any difficulties in having a fairly high-profile character be confirmed as queer?
Jed: It was always something that I wanted to get into, it was just a matter of when. Felicia was in that kind of grey area where her queerness had been mentioned in an off-hand way back in 2002, and while it had never been acknowledged or expanded upon since, it was something that had since become really important to a lot of people who were looking for representation in the characters that they love. I thought that it was important to address that eternally hanging thread, and tried to do so in a way that was a natural part of the story we were building and not exploitative or titillating. The editors on the book were supportive of the idea and went to bat for it, and here we are!
Zoe: Between King in Black and the upcoming “Infinity Score” storyline, Black Cat is making increasingly big strides in the Marvel Universe and stepping far outside of Spider-Man’s shadow. Has it been a challenge trying to balance Felicia’s ground-level (or rooftop, I suppose) cat burglar charm with bigger and crazier heists and threats?
Jed: There has, to a certain extent- when Nick Lowe and I were talking about what would come next after the long-running Thieves Guild/Black Fox storyline and got the okay to get into some Infinity Stone-based shenanigans, there was the real worry that we were getting Felicia in a little over her head. But then we realized that Felicia’s always in over her head, that’s part of her charm. We keep putting her in more desperate situations only to watch as she strolls out with style each time. Infinity Score is meant to push that even further, with the stakes getting higher and higher for Felicia- big risk, big reward, and most importantly, no way out.
Zoe: Speaking of the Infinity Stones, you’ve got the Infinite Destinies crossover hitting this summer, bringing together the long-simmering Living Infinity Stones plotline across a series of annuals. This story was originally announced last March but, obviously, hit a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic like several other projects. Have plans changed in any significant way in the year since the unveiling?
Jed: A bit, haha. Obviously, Infinite Destinies was meant to happen last summer, and the Marvel Universe moves on despite delays and production mixups. That said, things more or less landed as they were supposed to- I can’t speak for everyone else’s annuals, but mine still came together pretty much in the same way. There were some changes- Black Cat Annual now takes place after Black Cat #7 (vol. 2), rather than between Black Cat #10 and #11 (vol. 1), for instance, and the backups needed to be reworked, but it’s still going to be the same big blast!
Zoe: While a chunk of the Infinite Destinies annuals are written by other writers such as Al Ewing on Guardians of the Galaxy, Saladin Ahmed on Miles Morales, and Karla Pacheco on Amazing Spider-Man, you are writing three of the entries (Avengers, Iron Man, and Black Cat) as well as the Nick Fury-led back-up running through the entire crossover. Would it be fair to describe the storyline as one you’re “showrunning”, for lack of a better term, and how was working with the other writers on the project?
Jed: I don’t know if I’d call it “showrunning”, as the other writers are working on their own annuals independently- and that’s kind of the point. Infinite Destinies is kind of an answer to event fatigue- if you just want an annual with your favourite character, then there you go, you’ve got it. But there’s connective tissue throughout, as some of those characters encounter hosts to the Infinity Stones, and how these hosts begin to make their presence known in the Marvel Universe. The general concept for each issue is an old favourite mixing it up with a newer character (Black Cat and White Fox/Tiger Division, Spider-Man (Miles Morales) and Amulet, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Star, etc.) either teaming up or throwing down, all with the Infinity Stones scattered throughout- and with a Nick Fury story running through the whole thing to foreground how the Infinity Stones are affecting the world once again.
Zoe: That’s a recurring theme in your Marvel work, and one I personally love, acommitment to using arguably under-sung aspects of Marvel history and its character roster. You’ve tied Black Cat into long-dormant plotlines from Immortal Iron Fist, wrote a Spider-Man one-shot guest-starring Reptil, and spotlighted South Korea’s Tiger Division superteam in Taskmaster. Is this something you intentionally shoot for? And Given Infinite Destinies‘ scope, are there any deep cuts folks should look forward to?
Jed: It’s kind of a combination of things. Sometimes editorial has characters they’d like to push- for instance, I was asked to put Reptil in KIB: Spider-Man from the get-go, and Taskmaster came to me with a directive to include Coulson, White Fox and Okoye. But at the same time, I like to reach back into continuity and find some gems that could use a little dusting off, or some threads that could use tying off. The Phineas Randall stuff in Black Cat, or even Xander the Merciless- they’re both spots where I could have just made something up and spared myself the digging around, but I find that including these connections to old stories and characters goes a long way towards making the world feel richer, lived-in and, well, as authentic as a superhero universe can. It’s kind of a gesture of playing fair with the readers, establishing a bit of internal consistency and using what’s already been established when you can. That, and the older and more obscure the character or connection, the less likely it is that anyone else is using and mucking up your plans, haha.
Zoe: Well, thanks for your time, Jed! Before we go, could you give a short, spoiler-free of course, peek at what lies ahead for Black Cat and Moon Knight? Something that would make you go “oh dip, I should check that book out” if you were browsing a new releases shelf.
Jed: Well, Black Cat #8 starts Infinity Score- and if the Black Cat and her crew diving head-first into some Infinity nonsense doesn’t sound exciting, I’m not sure what to tell you. Felicia is wrangling hosts of the Infinity Stones for a job of critical, life-or-death importance while simultaneously fending off others who are after that power for their own ends, so there’s a lot for our favorite cat-themed larcenist (I said it, deal with it world) to juggle.
Meanwhile, Moon Knight is going to be kicking off a whole new chapter in Marc Spector’s life- but sometimes a fresh start is just a fresh target. We’re setting up weird threats of all stripes for Moon Knight to (sometimes literally) butt heads with, and a hidden villain who’s set their sights on the Lunar Legionary (we don’t actually call him that in the book).
Zoe Tunnell is a 29-year old trans woman who has read comics for most of her adult life and can't stop now. Follow her on Twitter @Blankzilla.
