Moon Knight is the next show to continue the grand MCU Phase 4 story, set to premiere on Disney Plus on March 30th. That means we’re in the “endgame” of Disney’s big Moon Knight push that involves the release of additional footage, TV commercials, new posters, and interviews. Then the official Hollywood premiere will follow, and we’ll get the first reviews for the mysterious Marvel show.
The interviews are the most exciting part of the Moon Knight press tour, as the cast and crew start teasing the new character and the brand new story while trying to keep all the big secrets under wraps. And it so happens we have an exciting (and puzzling) Moon Knight detail coming straight from the show’s producer. Moon Knight is not attached to the current MCU.
Before explaining what that means, you should know that some spoilers might follow below if you’re not up to date with the MCU Phase 4 events.
Marvel’s rules of MCU engagement
The MCU is so successful because Marvel did something no other studio has managed to accomplish so far. It came up with a massive storyline made of plenty of distinct superhero movies and TV shows. And it did it before Disney Plus arrived. The TV shows only dropped after Disney released its streaming service, and they can provide even more context than movies. But the MCU magic is already here.
By placing Easter eggs in hooks in the various MCU creations, Marvel managed to tell a cohesive story that culminated with the big Infinity War–Endgame finale a few years ago. It’s the same type of storytelling that made Spider-Man: No Way Home possible last year.
In the process, Marvel taught fans to expect MCU Easter eggs in every new project, whether it’s a movie or TV show. We know now that everything that happens under the MCU umbrella links to everything else.
We expect that from every MCU show, and the same goes for Moon Knight. And rumors already detailed a potential Moon Knight MCU cameo that fans would love.
The Avengers pressure
But this type of storytelling also puts a lot of pressure on these shows to deliver the expected Easter eggs. We’re in a place where the absence of MCU connections stands out as a plot hole. That’s why we’d expect MCU Easter eggs in Moon Knight. We will meet a new hero who will work with some of the other Avengers one day. So this origin story has to have a place in the massive Marvel timeline.
I often labeled the absence of interactions from well-known Avengers in post-Endgame events are big plot holes for some of the stories we have seen so far. There’s nobody from the leading team to help Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) in WandaVision.
The Avengers are often referenced in The Eternals. But none of them are ready to intervene in any of the significant events in the movie. There’s absolutely no indication the planet’s mightiest heroes are ready to take on new threats — the opposite is true in Shang-Chi, for example.
Then we have Hawkeye and his giant Pym arrow dropping on a bridge. Absolutely no repercussions from the higher-ups.
No Way Home would almost make that list of movies where Avengers oversight is generally absent like it was in Far From Home. But the film’s main action takes place over a couple of days. And we already have an Avenger in place dealing with the matter.
You have to introduce some MCU hooks in the new stories. No matter how much you’d try to focus on the brand new heroes.
Can Moon Knight be any different when it comes to featuring extensive MCU ties? Apparently, the answer is yes.
Is Moon Knight in the MCU?
It comes from Moon Knight executive producer Grant Curtis. He said in a statement part of a Disney press release (via The Direct) that Moon Knight is not attached to the MCU the same way other stories are. You should not see that as a confirmation that the story is not happening in the MCU. Because that’s precisely where Moon Knight comes from.
What Curtis wanted to convey is that Moon Knight gave Marvel freedom to introduce a superhero just like they did with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) nearly 15 years ago:
“There are multiple aspects of Moon Knight that get us internally jazzed at Marvel Studios. But one of the unique aspects of this character is it’s taking Marvel Studios to its Iron Man and Tony Stark roots. That was a character that was obviously built from the ground up, and it is the same with Marc Spector.”
It’s in this context that Curtis said Moon Knight doesn’t have MCU ties:
There’s no attachment to the current MCU. He’s brand-new, and he is going on a brand-new adventure. We really think the fans are going to enjoy it.
You have to keep in mind the big reason why Marvel can get away with not focusing on the MCU in the new TV show. The superhero also suffers from dissociative identity disorder, a mental illness that Marvel will explore in Moon Knight. As Oscar Isaac said, you’ll want to watch Moon Knight multiple times after it concludes to understand it fully.
That said, there must be at least a very tiny Easter egg in Moon Knight to tie it to the current events in the MCU, no matter how insignificant.
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