Moon Knight Trailer: Everything Missed
Above, you can see the official Moon Knight trailer from Marvel Studios. The first proper look at the upcoming series dropped online this morning alongside a confirmed release date. Fans of the Moon Knight character will no doubt be glad to hear that we don’t actually have long to wait before this thing premieres on Disney Plus.
The Moon Knight trailer confirmed previous speculation that the show will drop on Wednesday the 30th of March. It will launch exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service. This confirmation is fantastic news for MCU fans everywhere. This is due to the fact that prior to this trailer dropping, the next expected Phase 4 project expected to be released was Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
With the show set to drop in just two months from the time of the trailer’s release, there is still a fair amount that we don’t actually know regarding the series. The trailer does provide us with a few details when it comes to the show’s plot and characters. However, there is still a lot that we don’t know going in. Here, we are going to dig deep into the trailer to try and make sense of things that are given glimpses. We will compare them to the source material to try and paint a larger picture.
In For A Harrowing Time
Ethan Hawke is playing the show’s antagonist, who is credited as Arthur Harrow. The name Arthur Harrow is a deep cut in Marvel comics. He is somewhat of an obscure, rarely mentioned character. To use him as the main villain in a huge MCU show seems like a slightly odd choice.
Harrow is such an obscure character that he only ever actually appeared briefly in one Marvel comic; Moon Knight #2 in 1985. He was a doctor who would conduct experiments on human subjects. His reasoning was to try and find a way to stop people feeling pain. While this may sound like somewhat of a noble endeavour, Harrow of course had darker, ulterior motives.
Why would this random character who only cropped up in a single issue of the comics be chosen as the show’s main villain? Something just doesn’t add up here. Could Harrow in fact be a conduit for an ancient Egyptian god? Could he be the public face of a larger, secret group? O.M.N.I.UM are a group that spring to mind. In the comics they were a secret organization with a dark, hidden agenda.
The other prevailing theory is that his character may be combined with the Patient 86, A.K.A The Sun King. Sun King was a Marvel supervillain who used pyrokinetic powers and suffered from bipolar disorder. A mental health issue that is not dissimilar to Moon Knight’s own issues. Over on Reddit, this is certainly the most popular theory, with that persistent Mephisto theory being not too far behind.
You Do Not Talk About Fight Club
Oscar Isaac will play the titular hero in Moon Knight, however for the uninitiated, Moon Knight’s alter ego is a rather complicated matter. See, Marc Spector is an former mercenary that suffers with dissociative identity disorder. After sustaining fatal injuries during a fight with a villain, Marc is gifted superhuman abilities from the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu.
The way that the trailer is edited makes it look like Marc is not the personality in control at the beginning of the series, instead it is Steven Grant holding the reins. Steven Grant is one of Marc’s alternate personalities, an Englishman who is experiencing sleep deprivation. We see Steven turning up to his job and being berated by his boss Donna.
A little later in the trailer, a women called Layla calls Steven and refers to him as Marc. Steven replies; “Why did you call me Marc?.” This tells us that when the season starts, Steven has no idea about his other personalities yet. It all feels very reminiscent of the “You’re Mr Durden,” scene towards the end of Fight Club.
Although we only see two in the trailer, the character has a total of five separate personalities. There is; Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, Inner Child and Mr. Knight. Although there is no way of knowing whether the other three personalities will make an appearance in the show, it would make for a very interesting dynamic onscreen.
Ancient Egypt Wants A Word
The comic source material for the show featured heavy references to Egyptian mythology. The mythos has always played a big part in Moon Knight’s backstory and it looks like this will also be the case here. Originally, Marc Spector was gifted superhuman abilities by the Egyptian moon god Khonsu, to help him fight crime. Moon Knight’s iconic costume is also heavily informed by the classic look of the ancient Egyptian mummification procedure.
Khonshu is who we see appear briefly at the 0:45 minute mark of the trailer. An apparition of Khonshu strides towards Steven as he cowers in an elevator, before it turns into an elderly woman, confused as to why Steven is on the floor of the lift. There were some fans convinced that the figure who appears is Thoth, however it has since been confirmed that it is in fact Khonshu, due to his signature mask and crescent-shaped staff he is holding.
A few seconds later in the trailer, at 1:06, Steven comes across an old flip-phone, which has an image of a crocodile set as the wallpaper. This is undoubtedly a be a reference to the ancient Egyptian god known as Sobek. This reptilian is famous for being the god of the Nile River and also the patron god of the military. Given that Marc Spector served as a marine at one time, this is a clever double-reference to the character’s comic book backstory.
Are We Finally Getting Werewolves in The MCU?
It has been previously reported by various entertainment outlets that we will see Moon Knight go toe-to-toe with a werewolf in this upcoming series. At the 1:40 mark in the trailer, Moon Knight is putting a serious beating on what looks like a trashed public bathroom. The creature can’t be clearly seen, as he is largely being blocked from view by Moon Knight’s magnificent cape, but those certainly looking like werewolf legs to me.
There is an upcoming Disney Plus Halloween special called Werewolf By Night, based on the comic series of the same name. Up and coming actor, Gael García Bernal has reportedly been cast as the series lead, who is rumoured to be Jake Gomez. Could this be the introduction of that character?
If not, there is a chance that this creature could instead be a jackal. These beats frequently appear in ancient Egyptian history. If this season sees the appearance of the Egyptian god Anubis, the jackals could be under his command. Perhaps he has sent them after Moon Knight for some reason?
Left, Right, Goodknight
While they didn’t actually appear in the Moon Knight trailer, a poster for the show was released by Marvel on the same day showing hero’s signature crescent moon-shaped blades. This should be taken as confirmation that these iconic weapons will indeed make an appearance in the upcoming show.
The inclusion of blood splashed across the crescent blade being held by Moon Knight suggests that the show could be delving into slightly darker territory than previous Marvel shows on Disney+.
Don’t Be Such A Square
This is a small touch, but a very clever inclusion. Near the beginning of the trailer, Steven can be seen lying awake and throwing a Rubik’s Cube into the air. The classic puzzle requires players to solve the cube by lining up squares on each side with matching colours. This is obviously a metaphor for the everchanging nature of the main character’s DID and is a nice use of imagery.
What did you think of the Moon Knight trailer? Are you looking forward to the series? Are there any theories that you have regarding the show that weren’t mentioned here? Let us know in the comments section down below.
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