Marvel Rivals hallows the iconic Moon Knight and Dracula meme

Marvel Rivals includes a cheeky reference that canonizes a popular Moon Knight meme in which that “damn nerd” Dracula owes money to Marc Spector. You know the one I mean.

While Moon Knight has always been a fairly popular character for die-hard Marvel fans, it’s fair to say that he was a fairly unknown character to most viewers until he was introduced into the MCU with Oscar Isaac in the role. Before that, I’d bet everyone knew him primarily because of an iconic fan-made meme.

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The meme in question takes a panel from a 1998 Solo Avengers issue featuring Moon Knight and changes some fairly generic text to Spector saying, “I know you’re here, Dracula, you big fucking nerd.” Where’s my damn money?” After this meme was shared in 2018, it exploded rapidly and it fit Moon Knight’s character so well that many people believed it was real.

Dracula actually owes Moon Knight money in Marvel Rivals

Although Moon Knight never referred to Dracula as a nerd (and in fact had no interaction with him up to that point), the meme became so popular that it has still become synonymous with the character. Until now, in the world of comics, Marvel has somehow managed to avoid referencing the fan-made panel, but thanks to Marvel Rivals, it has finally become canon.

As Redditor invaderark12 pointed out on the TwoBestFriendsPlay subreddit, a Codex entry in Marvel Rivals titled “The Dusk Of The New Moon” features a pretty obvious reference to the meme. Towards the end of the text, Konshu asks Spector what he knows about vampires, which leads him to answer: “That they suck. And that Dracula owes me money.”

While Moon Knight’s nod to Dracula in Marvel Rivals is far tamer than the fan-made meme from 2018, it’s still clearly intended as a nod to that iconic panel. Considering how few references to the meme have been made in the years since its debut, it’s surprising to see it in Rivals of all places, but it shows how much love and attention has been put into the game.

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