Moon Knight: Marvel Comics, Who is Duchamp?
The first episode of Moon Knight shows Duchamp as a contact on Mark Spector's phone, much to the MCU's chagrin by introducing his close friend "Frenchy".
One of Mark Spector's closest allies from the comics gets teased in Episode 1 of Moon Knight, as Duchamp's missed call is set up by the Frenchie. The majority of "The Goldfish Trouble" shows the controlling character of Stephen Grant, but through a British gift shop employee, Marvel brings excitement to Mark Spector's life. The first episode of Moon Knight comes after Stephen discovers Mark's cell phone and begins digging into it for information about what's going on.
Stephen finds Mark Spector's phone in a secret room in their apartment. Once he rebooted the phone and turned it on, he soon realized that he had dozens of missed calls from someone named Layla. The character Moon Knight from May Calamawy does not appear physically in the first episode, but she will appear throughout the rest of the first season. It's part of Marvel's effort to use the minimum number of characters in Moon Knight Episode 1, as Steven/Marc, Lily, and villain Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) are the only main cast members.
However, Marc Spector's missed calls also include one from his Duchamp contact. This is a reference to Jean-Paul Duchamp, known to Marvel Comics readers as "Frenchy". JP Duchamp is a close friend of Marc Spector, with whom they worked together during their days as mercenaries. During one of their missions, Duchamp and Specter disagreed with violent methods and defied their orders. Once Frenchy learned that Mark survived and became Moon Knight, he became his pilot and accompanied him on many other missions.
The Frenchie Moon Knight has helped fight several Marvel villains over the years in the comics, including the Flag-Smasher and Midnight Man. He even played a role in Moon Knight where he was hired to capture Werewolf by Night. He also lost his ability to walk after an attack by Mark's brother and had a strong connection to the Knights Templar. The comics also revealed that Frenchy was later gay and that he was secretly in love with Mark. Since Moon Knight Episode 1 confirms that Duchamp is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has a past with Marc Spector, he may be involved in some of these storylines.
Although the Frenchie Easter spawns in Episode 1 of Moon Knight, his participation in the Disney+ series has not been confirmed. However, that does not change the importance of this reference for Marvel fans. Even if Duchamp doesn't appear in subsequent Moon Knight episodes, the consistent link between them means Marvel Studios could use it in other projects that use the superhero, Oscar Isaac.
No comment