Moon Knight (miniseries)
Moon Knight is an American television miniseries created by Jeremy Slater for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. It is the sixth television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to be produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It follows Marc Spector and Steven Grant, two alters of a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID), as they are drawn into a mystery involving Egyptian gods. Slater serves as head writer with Mohamed Diab leading the directing team.
Moon Knight
- Oscar Isaac
- May Calamawy
- Karim El Hakim
- F. Murray Abraham
- Ethan Hawke
- Ann Akinjirin
- David Ganly
- Khalid Abdalla
- Gaspard Ulliel
- Antonia Salib
- Fernanda Andrade
- Rey Lucas
- Sofia Danu
- Saba Mubarak
United States
English
6
- Kevin Feige
- Louis D'Esposito
- Victoria Alonso
- Brad Winderbaum
- Grant Curtis
- Oscar Isaac
- Mohamed Diab
- Jeremy Slater
Peter Cameron
- Cedric Nairn-Smith
- Joan Sobel
- Ahmed Hafez
45–53 minutes
$147.9 million[1]
March 30 –
May 4, 2022
Oscar Isaac stars as Marc Spector / Moon Knight and Steven Grant / Mr. Knight, with May Calamawy, Karim El Hakim, F. Murray Abraham, Ethan Hawke, Ann Akinjirin, David Ganly, Khalid Abdalla, Gaspard Ulliel, Antonia Salib, Fernanda Andrade, Rey Lucas, Sofia Danu, and Saba Mubarak also starring. The series was announced in August 2019, with Slater hired in November. Diab was hired to direct four episodes in October 2020, with directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead joining in January 2021 to direct the other two. Isaac was confirmed to star at the time; he used different accents to differentiate Spector's various identities. Filming took place from April to October 2021, primarily in Budapest as well as in Jordan, Slovenia, and Atlanta, Georgia.
Moon Knight premiered on March 30, 2022, and ran for six episodes, concluding on May 4. It is part of Phase Four of the MCU. The series received positive reviews, with particular praise for the performances (particularly those of Isaac, Calamawy and Hawke), the darker tone compared to previous MCU series, and its portrayal of DID.
Premise[edit]
Marc Spector, a mercenary who has dissociative identity disorder (DID), is drawn into a deadly mystery involving Egyptian gods with his multiple alters, such as Steven Grant.[2]
Shaun Scott recurs in the series as the living statue Crawley.[43] Also guest starring are Lucy Thackeray and Alexander Cobb as Grant's co-workers Donna and J.B., respectively,[44][12] Díana Bermudez as Yatzil, the avatar of the Egyptian goddess of love Hathor, Declan Hannigan as the avatar of the Egyptian god of kinship Horus, Hayley Konadu as the avatar of the Egyptian goddess of moisture Tefnut, Nagisa Morimoto as the avatar of the Egyptian goddess of magic Isis,[35] Loic Mabanza as Mogart's bodyguard Bek,[45] Joseph Millson as Dr. Steven Grant from the fictional film Tomb Buster, while Bill Bekele portrays his young assistant Rosser, Claudio Fabian Contreras as Spector's younger brother Randall, and Usama Soliman as Layla's father Abdallah El-Faouly.[12]
Marketing[edit]
The first footage of the series debuted on Disney+ Day on November 12, 2021.[126][127] A trailer was then released on January 17, 2022, during the 2021–22 NFL playoffs,[128] with James Whitbrook at Gizmodo noting that it gave a full look at the character following the brief Disney+ Day footage. He said the costume was faithful to the comic book version, "albeit more textured-looking".[128] Daniel Chin from The Ringer highlighted the use of the song "Day 'n' Nite" by Kid Cudi, and felt that Moon Knight was "shaping up to be one of [Marvel's] darkest and most distinctive projects to date", due to its darker tone, incorporation of horror elements, depiction of violence, and how the series introduced a new character into the MCU rather than focus on previously established characters.[129] Richard Newby at The Hollywood Reporter felt the trailer was "relish[ing]" in the general audience's lack of knowledge about the character by maintaining a sense of mystery. He also felt the series looked like it would be one of the darkest and most original projects from Marvel Studios,[71] which was echoed by his colleagues Aaron Couch and Borys Kit, who said the trailer suggested "something unlike any other Marvel show".[130] Isaac's British accent for the Steven Grant identity received mixed responses from viewers, and Isaac himself made fun of it in a video where he and Hawke reacted to the trailer. Isaac later said the accent was intentionally unconvincing.[4] The trailer was viewed over 75 million times in 24 hours, which was better than trailers for Marvel Studios' other Disney+ series, except The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Super Bowl LV trailer which had 125 million views. Additionally, its social engagement of 263,000 mentions were the highest of any Disney+ Marvel series for their first content release.[130] An additional trailer aired during Super Bowl LVI on February 13,[131] which continued to keep the series mysterious while depicting its "darker sensibilities", according to Screen Rant's Rachel Labonte.[132] Ben F. Silverio of /Film said the shots of Moon Knight's cape "flung out into the shape of a crescent moon" and the character catching his moon-shaped weapons were the "coolest".[133] RelishMix reported the trailer had 9.49 million views in 24 hours across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.[134]
The "Marvel Must Haves" merchandise program, which reveals new toys, games, books, apparel, home decor, and other merchandise related to each episode of Moon Knight following an episode's release, started for the episodes on April 1 and concluded on May 5, 2022.[135][136] Also in April, Marvel and National Geographic released a featurette exploring how the series approached and researched all of the Ancient Egyptian iconography for the sets and story.[137]
QR codes were included in the first two and final two episodes linking viewers to a website to access free digital comics featuring Moon Knight that updated weekly.[138][139] The comics released for the six episodes, in order, were Werewolf by Night #32 and #33, Moon Knight vol. 1 #3, Universe X #6, Moon Knight vol. 1 #1, and Moon Knight Annual vol. 2 #1.[140][141][142] Each had a connection to a character or visual reference that appeared in that week's episode. By the release of the finale, Disney announced the site was visited over 1.5 million times, with 500,000 full comics read. Adam B. Vary of Variety called the initiative "a savvy way to expand viewers' comic book knowledge" for the more obscure character of Moon Knight. Curtis explained that he had been fascinated with the engagement the animated series Bob's Burgers had with their gags in the opening and closing credits and their "burger of the week", and believed that interactivity could be brought to Moon Knight to "help educate viewers on Moon Knight's comic book history". When filming at the storage locker facility in "Summon the Suit", which already had existing QR codes on their doors, Curtis realized that would be the way to "organically incorporate QR codes into the environment".[138] He had originally thought of another idea for the engagement that Marvel was unable to execute technologically.[142] The visual effects team then inserted the live QR codes with CGI into the episodes where codes could naturally be found, which was why codes were not included in the third, fourth, and sixth episodes (outside of one in its post-credits scene) as they would "stick out as a gimmick" in those environments. Curtis was hopeful the project would continue for other MCU films and series.[138] Viewers who scanned the code were also sent an exclusive, digital poster after the series finale of the "SPKTR" license plate.[143]
Release[edit]
Streaming[edit]
Moon Knight debuted on Disney+ on March 30, 2022.[144] It consists of six episodes,[54] releasing weekly until May 4.[145] A special screening occurred on March 16 at Cine Capitol in Madrid,[146] and on March 17 at the British Museum in London,[147] with the red carpet premiere on March 22 at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.[148][149] It is part of Phase Four of the MCU.[150]
Home media[edit]
Moon Knight was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on April 30, 2024, with SteelBook packaging and concept art cards. Bonus features include the featurette "Egyptology"; deleted scenes; a gag reel; and the Marvel Studios: Assembled documentary special "The Making of Moon Knight".[151]
Reception[edit]
Audience viewership[edit]
Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, reported that Moon Knight had the most in-demand United States series premiere in the first quarter of 2022. It had 33.4 times the average demand of all other series in the U.S. during its first 30 days.[152]
Future[edit]
In November 2019, Feige stated that after introducing Moon Knight in the series, the character would cross over to the MCU films.[172] Diab stated in March 2022 that he felt the character would be part of the MCU for the next ten years and expressed his hope that Moon Knight would eventually get his own feature film.[65] At the time of the series' premiere, Isaac had not signed on to return as the character in future projects,[8] and by the finale, Diab and Curtis were unsure of the character's future, be it in a second season, feature film, or part of another character's property.[173] Diab hoped a potential second season would be able to film in Egypt.[28] Isaac was open to returning "if there was a story that really made sense", with Calamawy and Hawke also expressing interest in returning.[174] In August, Isaac stated that he was grateful for being able to explore the character and tell the story of this series without the burden of being locked in to future projects, adding there was an option to do more but it was not "imperative".[175] In October, Isaac confirmed that he had begun having conversations with Marvel Studios to reprise the role of Moon Knight, be it in a second season or another project. Isaac was concerned about having another story for the character that was "worth telling" and "interesting".[176]
