Ever since it was announced at D23 that director Jon Watts would be helming the next Fantastic Four film, fans couldn't wait to see Marvel's first family introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, even more than the titular family, fans awaited the arrival of one of Marvel's greatest villains, Doctor Doom, the ruler of Latveria.
However, after that fantastic reveal, it's been crickets from the team on this project, aside from fans seeing the potential setup for the rise of Latveria in the MCU. But, more promising is a recent rumor indicating that Doctor Doom would have a "very minor" role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
So, it isn't a surprise that some fans have found a village appearing in the premiere of Moon Knight to bear a striking resemblance to a particular factious country.
A Familiar Looking Eastern European Village in Moon Knight
In Moon Knight's first episode, after Oscar Isaac's Steven Grant awoke from his first blackout, he found himself suddenly in the countryside, having seemingly just jumped out of the window of an enormous castle.
As he flees from several gunmen, Grant stumbles into a village at the bottom of the foothills of the castle to hide.
Once inside, multiple signs can be seen written in a Slavic language, indicating that Grant has somehow found himself somewhere in Eastern Europe, possibly even the Balkans of Europe.
Making things even worse for Grant is the entire village being devoted followers to a single man, Ethan Hawke's Arthur Harrow, who Marc Spector just pilfered.
Some comic fans could find that vaguely familiar, sounding a lot like the fictional country of Latveria, located in the Balkans of Europe, with its capital, Doomstadt. The home of Victor von Doom, who lives within the aptly named Castle Doom that overlooks the city where its citizens treat him like a living god.
Fans have theorized that this could actually be Latveria itself due to its similarities, but there are several holes in this idea.
A Far Cry From Latveria
If this is actually a village within the borders of Latveria, it has to be before Doctor Doom took it over. Otherwise, the Fantastic Four villain would have crushed Harrow like a gnat under his heel before letting him convert even one of his citizens.
So, alternatively, if this were potentially a Latveria before the rule of Doom, it'd lessen his imposing iron grip on the fictitious country if his eventual rule ends up being fairly recent instead of years spanning.
It'd also be strange for Moon Knight, of all things, to be the first project in the MCU to introduce a key location from the Fantastic Four. The vigilante has absolutely no connections to either Marvel's first family or Doctor Doom, so his show being the first introduction of Latveria would be a bizarre choice.
Considering all that, this is simply a series of coincidences that connect to the fictional country. But, it's undoubtedly a preview for things to come, as these citizens feverishly defend their leader, not dissimilar to Doom, from a superhero interloper.
It's also possible that this location could be revisited in the series again unless Harrow has multiple locations across the world like this village. Considering he's essentially a cult leader with a global following, to the point that even some of Steven Grant's co-workers are devoted to him, it wouldn't be surprising.
So, when Doctor Doom and his country make their grand appearance in this franchise, maybe fans could see this village absorbed into his growing empire after the fall of Harrow. It'd certainly be another way of showing Doom's encroaching growth in power and influence.
Fans can continue watching Moon Knight on Disney+ every Wednesday to see if this village makes a comeback.
