Moon Knight is primed to make Marvel Cinematic Universe history. Similar to Simu Liu's Shang-Chi and Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, Oscar Isaac's cloaked crime-fighter will make his Marvel Studios debut in his own self-titled project. Unlike the aforementioned heroes, however, Moon Knight will be the first to make that debut in a solo streaming series on Disney+.
Marvel's first project of 2022 debuted its first trailer during the recent Monday Night Football NFL Wild Card game and immediately took social media by storm. The two-minute spot focused largely on Isaac's Steven Grant persona, one of at least three alter egos he will utilize in Moon Knight, as well as flashes of the title character suited up in his stained-white threads.
Unlike most trailers for debuting heroes, Marvel's Moon Knight teaser omitted any blatant references to the larger universe around him. While marketing material for films like Ant-Man and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings snuck in name-drops and character cameos to emphasize their presence in the MCU, Moon Knight elected to focus its full teaser on the leading man.
That said, the first footage does include a key visual cue that calls back to one of Marvel's most integral films.
Moon Knight's Avengers Reference
He said... "Kneel!"
Marvel's first trailer for Moon Knight gave fans their first extended glimpse at Ethan Hawke's Arthur Harrow. The mysterious David Koresh-inspired character arrives through a crowd of glossy-eyed people and soon has them kneeling before him.
While this type of bend-the-knee loyalty is most known to come in Game of Thrones' Westeros, a certain God of Mischief commanded the same kind of devotion ten years ago.
"Kneel before me. I said...kneel!"
2012's The Avengers features an early scene with Tom Hiddleston's Loki puppeteering a crowd of unwilling subjects. The group of Germans eventually meet the trickster's wishes and "kneel before [him]." Loki proceeds to give a tyrannical speech, which elicits the protest of one man.
"Not to men like you."
This visual of one man standing amongst a kneeling crowd is repeated in the Moon Knight trailer, as Oscar Isaac's Steven Grant remains upright as a crowd bends a knee before Harrow.
Moon Knight's Familiar Frames
Like previous Phase 4 streaming series, Moon Knight looks to be setting itself up to stand on its own while simultaneously integrating familiar MCU flavor.
This particular kneeling scene plays homage to 2012's The Avengers, but it is not a beat-by-beat recreation. While the rebellious German initially kneels to Loki before certain dictator-like dialogue prompts him to change his mind, Grant is never seen bowing before Harrow in this trailer.
Beyond that, Grant's stand may not even be out of protest. The title character is in an overall state of confusion for just about every frame of this footage, and it's fair to assume he is equally perplexed at Harrow's gathering.
While Harrow's reaction to Grant's refusal to bow remains to be seen, Moon Knight's kneeling scene promises to end just as messy as 2012's. Subsequent frames reveal Grant confusedly driving an ice cream truck with a gun in a bludgeoned hand. Eagle-eyed fans will recognize this truck as the same pink and yellow vehicle in the background of Harrow's gathering, and will notice Grant is wearing the same clothes in both scenes.
Further MCU references within Moon Knight will come when the series begins streaming on March 30 exclusively on Disney+.
