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, 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...

is the showcase for "evergreen events" — self-contained limited series that think outside the box, that challenge readers to re-think their favorite Marvel characters and re-evaluate the legends that surround them. In other words, Marvel Knights will be a place for top talent to work without constraints, and deliver the kind of product fans deserve!

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.