Moon Knight: The MCU’s Scarlet Scarab to Make Marvel Comics Debut

Another major MCU character is making the jump to Marvel’s comic book universe. This time, May Calamawy’s Scarlet Scarab is being adapted in the pages of Moon Knight #25.

While there have been two characters to wear the Scarlet Scarab mantle in the Marvel Universe, the version in the Disney+ Moon Knight series is only loosely inspired by those heroes. Marvel is now adapting Calamawy’s character Layla El-Faouly and her costumed alter ego. The character will debut in Moon Knight #25 before spinning out into a limited series called Moon Knight: City of the Dead.

IGN can exclusively debut the covers for Moon Knight #25 and Moon Knight: City of the Dead #1. Check them out below for a better look at the new Scarlet Scarab:

Moon Knight #25 is written by Jed MacKay, with art by Alessandro Cappuccio, Alessandro Vitti and Partha Pratim and cover art by Steve McNiven. Scarlet Scarab’s comic book debut will continue in the pages of Moon Knight: City of the Dead, a five-issue limited series from writer David Pepose and artist Marcelo Ferreira. Issue #1 features a main cover by Rod Reis and a variant cover by Davi Go, the latter of which showcases the character design for Scarlet Scarab.

“Working on Moon Knight #25 was a bit of a mammoth task – 70 pages of story, cutting between three stories, each with their own artist!” MacKay tells IGN. “It was a really exciting opportunity to have that much space to work in, telling a Moon Knight story in a longer form than we’re usually used to.”

MacKay continues, “Bringing Layla El-Faouly into our story was exciting. Adding an already beloved character into the universe of the comics is a really interesting opportunity, and being able to show the ‘before’ to David and Marcelo’s ‘after’ was a wonderful bit of synchronicity. It was an idea that we both came to independently, and the way our stories were able to dovetail is something that I’m looking forward to people experiencing. While the Scarlet Scarab will indeed be turning up in Moon Knight: City of the Dead, in Moon Knight #25 we’re seeing a much younger Layla and a much younger Marc Spector as they embark on a mission as members of the crack mercenary team, the Karnak Cowboys.”

“Drawing equal parts inspiration from Inception and Taken, I’m thrilled to be tackling one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters in Moon Knight: City of the Dead,” says Pepose. “Teaming up with sensational artist Marcelo Ferriera, we’re sending Marc Spector on one of his most mind-bending adventures to date — rescuing a young runaway’s soul from the City of the Dead. Yet as a mercenary and as a hero, Moon Knight has been no stranger to leaving a body count… so he might see some familiar faces looking for payback!”

Pepose adds, “But Marc won’t be embarking on this mission alone — I couldn’t be more excited to be writing Layla El-Faouly’s debut as the all-new Scarlet Scarab! Layla has been such a fun character to adapt — she knows Marc better than almost anyone, and that tension is going to spark some spectacular fireworks on this otherworldly adventure. From diehard Moon Knight readers to fans of the Disney+ show, we’re going to have something for everyone in this series, as the Fist of Khonshu is pushed to his absolute limits in Moon Knight: City of the Dead!”

Moon Knight #25 will hit comic shops and digital storefronts on July 12, 2023, followed by Moon Knight: City of the Dead #1 on July 19.

Previously, Marvel Comics has added MCU characters like Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and the Loki character Miss Minutes to the core Marvel Universe.

In other Marvel Comics news, Nightcrawler is taking on a new role as the Uncanny Spider-Man, and Silk’s new series will thrust Cindy Moon back into the Spider-Verse.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.