While the MCU is taking a short hiatus to start 2022, that brief rest will end with a bang as Moon Knight hits Disney+. The streaming series from Marvel Studios is set to star Oscar Isaac as he takes on the role of Mark Spector and his many alter-egos. Fans have gotten a peek at the project with recent trailers seeing this new hero deal with Dissociative Identity Disorder.
The project is set to debut on March 30, 2022, kicking off the MCU's year on Disney's streaming service. The idea of Moon Knight has fans excited as it looks to bring an element of horror to Marvel's blockbuster franchise along with the mystery already teased.
Isaac's hero looks glorious in action from the footage seen thus far, with the hero's look being inspired by the imagery of Ancient Egypt. And as is the case in many upcoming comic book adaptions, Moon Knight is wearing its inspiration on its sleeves, not just in the costume department.
Moon Knight's Horror Roots
In a recent interview with The Playlist, Moon Knight directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead revealed the horror movies that served as inspiration for the upcoming MCU streaming series.
The two - who made a name for themselves working in the world of indie horror - said things are not all that different between their past experience and working with Marvel, going as far as saying “They really complement each other.” While the different productions do "fulfill you in different ways", they are "also incredibly similar:"
“They fulfill you in different ways, but then they’re also incredibly similar. When you go onto a gigantic set, once you walk past all the trailers and the giant trucks, the craft is basically the same. You got a camera; you got actors, you have to tell people what to do all that.”
Then, when going into the specific inspirations for Moon Knight, the directing duo said it will "[share] DNA with [our previous films] The Endless and Resolution:"
“It’s stuff that’s kind of like what we already do. Archive 81’ definitely shares DNA with [our previous films] The Endless and Resolution. You’ll see with same with Moon Knight.”
Movies Like Moon Knight
While fans have now officially seen footage from Moon Knight, it's little tidbits like these that start to give an even better idea as to what to expect in Oscar Isaac's series. Yes, the horror elements of the project have been mentioned before, but it is nice to get it out in the open again during the lead-up to the show's premiere.
While Marvel has teased an element of horror in the past (see Multiverse of Madness) the subject matter of Mark Spector's multiple personalities pairs perfectly with those horror influences.
While the world of indie horror can be particularly unsettling, that doesn't mean that this is going to be the nightmare-inducing fare of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's previous films. Instead of the blood and guts that come with the world of horror, it really feels like Moon Knight is going to be full of that signature horror tension.
The two directors have become known over the years for forcing their characters into uncomfortable situations and making the audience go along with them. In 2017's The Endless, the directors crafted a story in which their main characters reconnected with a UFO death cult he had escaped nearly a decade earlier. And Resolution saw its protagonist into forced sobriety amid horrifying events.
This sounds perfect for the character of Moon Knight, a hero who is trapped in his circumstances of jumping between personalities and technically living parallel lives. This comes with that theme of claustrophobia and being trapped that's also present in Moon Knight.
Moon Knight can be found when it debuts on Disney+ on March 30, 2022.
