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One of Marvel’s deadliest assassins is about to make his big comeback, and it could shake the Midnight Mission all the way to its core.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Moon Knight #8, available now from Marvel.
Marc Spector has always had a long list of rivals and enemies just as deadly as they are obscure. Even today, mysterious, ultraviolent assailants are haunting Moon Knight, though nothing could possibly prepare him for his latest threat. It isn’t that Marc hasn’t dealt with the likes of superpowered madmen or artificially enhanced killers, but rather that the villains he has faced aren’t nearly as dedicated to their craft. In the case of Rutherford Winner, killing truly is one of the few things he actually knows, and from the looks of things he is about to share that education with the Midnight Mission.
New York City has been caught in the violent torrent of Wilson Fisk’s war on its superpowered vigilantes, and Marc Spector has become one of its many victims. Thankfully, the other Fist of Khonshu, Hunter’s Moon, has taken up the reins of the Midnight Mission in his counterparts stead. As much as it helps to still have someone watching over Moon Knight’s slice of the city, the events of Devil’s Reign have created the prime opportunity for the city’s villains to embark on bold new ventures of their own. While the likes of the Rhino and Agony have found a place among the former Kingpin’s new Thunderbolt Units, others are only beginning to take advantage of the chaos. In the pages of Moon Knight #8 by Jed MacKay, Alessandro Cappuccio, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Cory Petit, Marvel’s most obscure assassin has taken the opportunity to escape from his incarceration behind the walls of the Ravencroft Institute. Rutherford Winner might not be a household name as of now, but from the looks of things that is about to change in horrifying fashion.
First introduced in 2018’s Daughters of the Dragon – Marvel Digital Original #2 by Jed MacKay and Joey Vazquez, Rutherford Winner was created as part of a Hydra program to develop the perfect living weapon. Known as Pygmalion, the program began with kidnapping seemingly random people to torture, effectively erasing their entire personalities to be replaced with false memories. The agents produced by Project Pygmalion were among the most lethal even Nick Fury had ever seen, and although S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to dispose of the vast majority, Rutherford Winner somehow slipped through the cracks.
Unfortunately, Winner’s programming was also slipping when he encountered Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. The narratives that Hydra had implanted in his mind were quickly eroding, and as someone unable to decide his story for himself, Winner played the role of an international terrorist in the hopes that Nick Fury would put an end to his life. Instead, the Daughters of the Dragon took Winner under their wings to help him forge his own path. In turn, Winner played an invaluable role in saving their lives from the clutches of the murderous Emila Vachon, all before heading for what has ultimately been a relatively short stay at Ravencroft.
It isn’t clear just yet what plans Rutherford Winner has in store following his breakout, though it’s hard to imagine he has anything especially good planned. There is always the chance that he will look to continue the semi-heroic adventure he had alongside Misty and Colleen. On the other hand, few of the Ravencroft Institute’s former patients have ended up better for their stay, and there aren’t many more dangerous than an unhinged Winner. If he has escaped to go looking for another violent end to his story, Marc Spector could very well be the one to do that for him. If not, then Moon Knight will likely be looking at yet another impossibly capable rival, possibly one looking to rewrite their own legacy just as Marc has been doing with the Midnight Mission.
Moon Knight and Hunter’s Moon have managed to develop a generally amicable relationship, while Zodiac has done everything he can to turn Marc’s life inside out, and now Rutherford Winner is poised to fall somewhere in the middle of all of them. With any luck, Marc Spector will be discovering a powerful new ally in Winner rather than another lethal enemy. Considering how many different directions he is already being attacked from, Moon Knight probably won’t be able to handle much more once he is inevitably released from Thunderbolt custody.
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