Through two episodes, Moon Knight has honored executive producer Grant Curtis' claim that the series has "no attachment" to the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only is Oscar Isaac's titular character a Marvel Studios rookie, but his supporting cast are also strangers to this decade-plus franchise. While familiar faces have yet to pop up, Moon Knight has planted subtle references to the world around it.
Trailer footage for the series showcased a double-decker bus with a "Global Repatriation Council" advertisement, the same organization that managed displaced Blip refugees in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. While this GRC reference is the only blatant allusion to the greater MCU, there are plenty of implied ties to upcoming projects like Fantastic Four and Thor: Love and Thunder scattered across the first two episodes.
Even a week removed, new Easter eggs are still being uncovered from that first Moon Knight episode.
Moon Knight's History Lessons
Steven Grant has enrolled himself in MCU 101.
As shared on Facebook by Marvel Thailand Fanpage, Moon Knight Episode 1 features two notable books on Grant's desk.
While he is perusing an Egyptian mythology text, publications titled "What's Old is New Again: Asgard" and "History of Wakanda" can be spotted among the clutter, making reference to the homes of Thor and Black Panther.
Wakandan and Asgardian Mythos
As Vision noted in Captain America: Civil War, the "number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially" since Tony Stark revealed himself as Iron Man. The armored identity becoming common knowledge set off a domino effect that altered the very fabric of the world around the MCU.
Someone like Thor "was a myth" before Peter Parker began studying him "in physics class." Speaking of the God of Thunder, he himself explained the evolution of humanity best in his debut appearance:
“Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same.”
Grant reading up on Asgardian and Wakandan "history" books exemplifies everything Marvel Studios has set in motion since 2008. The MCU is the "world outside your window" in that it repurposes actual cities and western iconography, but it is not a mirror image of real life. That said, acclimating the lore behind Black Panther and Thor's home nations into its history books is an accurate reflection on how the real world would respond to such fantastical revelations.
Thor 4 Connections?
Including these texts feels more like a nod to the greater MCU rather than a seed Moon Knight intends to sprout before the series concludes. Nevertheless, the most recent episode did lay out a potential tie to Thor: Love and Thunder, making this Asgardian history book's placement feel less coincidental.
The title of the aforementioned book, along with it being a hardcover copy, alludes to it being a recent release too. "What's Old is New Again" is a reference to New Asgard, the city in Norway where homeless Asgardians made their haven. Grant is a distant 1,132 miles from Norway, but considering how far his dissociative identity disorder glitches take him, no destination is out of question.
Moon Knight premieres new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.
MCU Writer, Editor, Podcaster
