| Marvel Knights | |
| Parent: | Marvel Comics |
| Status: | Active |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Country: | United States |
| Headquarters: | New York City |
| Keypeople: | Joe Quesada Jimmy Palmiotti |
| Publications: | Comic books |
| Owner: | Marvel Comics |
Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe (Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles (Black Panther, Punisher, Daredevil and Inhumans) to Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti's company Event Comics; Event hired the creative teams for the Knights line while Marvel published them.
In 1998, Marvel Comics, which had just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, asked Quesada and Palmiotti to work for Marvel in a more exclusive capacity, and contracted them and their Event Comics partners to produce a line of Marvel books dubbed Marvel Knights. As editors of Marvel Knights, Quesada and Palmiotti worked on a number of low-profile characters such as Daredevil, Punisher, The Inhumans and Black Panther,[1] encouraging experimentation and using their contacts in the independent comics world to bring in creators such as David W. Mack, Mike Oeming, Brian Michael Bendis, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Quesada himself also illustrated a Daredevil story written by film director Kevin Smith with Palmiotti inking the title book.
Marvel Knights stepped away from the long-running story arcs and heavy focus on continuity that was a prime feature of Marvel Comics during this period; instead, the imprint focused on strong stand-alone stories and high production qualities.
In addition to the headlining Daredevil title with Smith/Quesada/Palmiotti, the line also featured initial release titles of Punisher (from Christopher Golden, Bernie Wrightson and Jimmy Palmiotti); the Inhumans (Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee and Jose Villarrubia) and Black Panther (Christopher Priest and Mark Texeria). Several of these titles laid the ground work for several Marvel TV and movie story ideas and concepts. The title went on to feature Black Widow, new Punisher titles, the Sentry and several more events.
In 2000, two-and-a-half years after starting Marvel Knights — and in large part due to the imprint's success — Quesada was named editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Palmiotti remained involved in some of the titles for a limited period either inking or editing before leaving.
In early 2006 Quesada announced that all ongoing titles under the "Marvel Knights" banner would move to the Marvel Universe imprint and that "Marvel Knights" would afterward contain high-profile limited series. Quesada explained that Marvel Knights...
The change began with Daredevil #82, Black Panther #14, Moon Knight #1, Squadron Supreme #1, and Wolverine #42. Marvel Knights Spider-Man became The Sensational Spider-Man with issue #23, and Marvel Knights 4 (featuring the Fantastic Four) became simply 4 with issue #28.
, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was the first limited series to launch under the redefined imprint in February 2006. This was followed by by J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribić (2007), by Kaare Andrews (late 2006), Ghost Rider by Garth Ennis and Clayton Crain (2007), and Captain America: The Chosen (September 2007).
Marvel Knights editor Axel Alonso wrote in a press release:
Marvel Knights became dormant after 2013.[2] However, a six issue limited anniversary run entitled Marvel Knights 20th was started in 2018 and ran into 2019.[3]
The Marvel Knights team was a name given to Daredevil's unnamed superhero team. Besides Daredevil, the line-up consisted of Black Widow, Cloak and Dagger, Morbius, Elektra, Blade, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, Black Knight and Luke Cage. #1
The Flight of Bones (1999 4-issue limited series)
Yellow (2001 6-issue limited series)
The Hammer Lane (2001 6-issue limited series, plus a Wizard #1/2 issue)
Glimpse & Echo (2002 4-issue limited series)
Gray (2003 6-issue limited series)
Greatest Hits (2004 5-issue limited series)
Father (2004 6-issue limited series)
The Things They Say About Her (2005 6-issue limited series)
Redemption (2005 6-issue limited series)
The Road to Damnation (2005 6-issue limited series)
The Chosen (2007 6-issue limited series)
Battlin' Jack Murdock (2007 4-issue limited series)
Requiem (2007 4-issue limited series)
Viva Las Vegas (2008; 2 issues published of an intended limited series)
The Depths (2008 5-issue limited series)
Magneto Testament (2008 5-issue limited series)
War Zone (2009 6-issue limited series)
Wade Wilson's War (2010 4-issue limited series)
For Asgard (2010 6-issue limited series)
Perfect Game (2011 2-issue limited series)
Rapture (2011; 4-issue limited series)
Red X-Mas (2004 one-shot)
Bloody Valentine (2006 one-shot)
Silent Night (2006 one-shot)
In 2004, Marvel Comics held a fifth-week event called "Marvel Knights 2099", which took place in the future on an alternate world (Earth-2992) that was not identical to the alternate Marvel Universe on Earth-928 featured in the 1990s Marvel 2099 books.
The Ultimate Marvel version of the Marvel Knights team made its debut in Ultimate Spider-Man #106 in the arc called "Warriors". The members of the Ultimate Marvel version of the Marvel Knight include Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, and Spider-Man.
After Shang-Chi made an unsuccessful attack on the Kingpin, he was recruited by Daredevil to help bring down the Kingpin for good. Later, Daredevil, as Matt Murdock, met Spider-Man and asked him to join the group, with the plan of killing the Kingpin. Spider-Man objected to killing, and the group agreed to let Moon Knight, under the persona of Ronin join the Kingpin's employ. Ronin forcibly brought Spider-Man to the Kingpin as a captive. The Kingpin ties him up, unmasks him and tortures him and mocks him for being a teenager. After revealing that he knew that Ronin was Moon Knight, Kingpin had him beaten nearly to death, and let Spider-Man leave with the knowledge that one of the Knights was a traitor.[5]
After a bomb destroyed the law offices of Matt Murdock, Iron Fist was revealed as the traitor, though only because Kingpin threatened his daughter. Iron Fist was sent back to Kingpin to distract him while Daredevil tried to kill his comatose wife. After a standoff between Daredevil, Kingpin, and Spider-Man, Kingpin agreed to leave the country in exchange for his wife's safety, but he secretly and furiously plotted to have Daredevil killed, Dr. Strange's hands broken, and Spider-Man's school blown up. Meanwhile, Moon Knight went to the police, revealed his secret identity, and said that Kingpin tried to kill him, which gave the police enough to arrest Kingpin on attempted murder charges. At the end of the arc there were brief images of the team going their separate ways: Shang-Chi caught a train out of town, Iron Fist returned to his daughter, Dr. Strange went back to his sanctum, and Daredevil berated himself at a church.[6]
Marvel Knights was also the name of a production arm of Marvel Studios intended to be used to produce some of Marvel's darker and lesser-known titles: and were the only films released under the Marvel Knights banner.
The Marvel Knights books have had several influences on Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and TV shows. From the Netflix Marvel TV shows to the 2018 Black Panther film, the characters they created have been noted as coming directly from the comics. Christopher Priest credited the Dora Milaje to both Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti.[7]
In 2010, Shout! Factory and Marvel Comics teamed up to release a roster of motion comic animated series on DVD.[8] The following titles have been released thus far:[9]