‘Moon Knight’ Should’ve Been the First Marvel Spotlight Project

Having just dropped all five episodes on Disney+ and its sister streamer Hulu, Echo is making history for Marvel Studios as the first entry to be rated TV-MA. Disney+ has been wearing the rating like a badge of honor, gleefully promoting the show by cramming all of its brutal and bloody scenes into intense, gritty trailers with a gravelly-voiced narrator to top it all off. And the show needs the rating as it reunites us with Kingpin aka Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), a favorite from the very much TV-MA Netflix Daredevil series. If Fisk isn’t bashing people’s heads into car doors or strangling investigative reporters who get too close to uncovering his empire, something just feels off — thankfully, Echo was able to deliver. While it is great that the MCU feels comfortable enough to provide us with TV-MA content, there’s another Disney+ show that debuted nearly two years ago that deserved the same treatment and could easily fit in Marvel’s new Spotlight Banner: Moon Knight.

Moon Knight

Steven Grant discovers he’s been granted the powers of an Egyptian moon god. But he soon finds out that these newfound powers can be both a blessing and a curse to his troubled life.

Seasons

1

Release Date

March 30, 2022

Creator

Doug Moench

Rating

TV-14

What Is Marvel’s New Spotlight Banner?

In addition to being its first TV-MA entry, Echo is also the first project released under Marvel Studios’ new Spotlight banner. Essentially, the “Spotlight” title separates the project from other MCU entries in the sense that it can be watched as a standalone project. Marvel has become infamous for its connected universe with every project building off another for the past decade and a half, but Marvel Spotlight aims to provide some relief and maybe even allow some new viewers to hop aboard. Though it certainly would help to have background MCU knowledge, Echo does operate as its own entity and doesn’t rely on any ties to the Avengers or other facets of the main MCU timeline, much like Moon Knight.

Moon Knight should have been the first Marvel Spotlight project as it is even more disconnected from the main MCU continuity than Echo. Nearly two years since the show’s release and there have been zero mentions of the character or anything since. Additionally, there is little to no mention of any Avengers by the characters in the show and Moon Knight operates on his own accord throughout the series. If it wasn’t for the Marvel Studios fanfare at the beginning of every episode, newcomers to the MCU wouldn’t even know it was connected to begin with.

Moon Knight’s Violent Past Pairs Well With TV-MA Content

There seems to be a fitting correlation between Marvel Spotlight and the TV-MA rating, since the stories are considered distant from the main timeline, it’s easier for the MCU to greenlight some grisly content. If Moon Knight were to have been released under the Spotlight banner, it would have greatly benefitted from a TV-MA rating, as Marc Spector’s (Oscar Isaac) history isn’t pretty. As it stands, Moon Knight widely sits in the middle of the pack amongst the sea of Marvel Disney+ shows, but it could have been so much more. Despite Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige calling the series “brutal” and stating they are “not pulling back” it was quite clear that the series remained within the known realm of MCU violence.

The show chose an interesting route by decidedly not covering Moon Knight’s compelling backstory and instead jumping into an undefined point in his servitude as protector of those who travel at night. While it makes sense to skip over some heroes’ blasé origins, Moon Knight’s would have been perfect to adapt. To summarize it incredibly briefly: After a botched mission, mercenary Marc Spector is left for dead, stranded in the desert. Marc makes it to the feet of the Temple of Khonshu before dying, only to be revived moments later by the Khonshu (F. Murray Abraham) himself as his Fist of Vengeance and High Priest. With a newfound purpose and a second shot at life, Marc sets out to protect the travelers of the night as Moon Knight. And when he isn’t beating criminals senseless, Moon Knight is also known to appear as Mr. Knight, a more sophisticated version of the vigilante, clad in a posh white suit. Mr. Knight, while still just as deadly, is more inclined to talk things out before resorting to a brawl.

As the series depicts, Marc also has a condition known as Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID) that causes him to switch between multiple personalities Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. This complicates things for Marc and his allies but also provides a fresh angle not seen with any other hero. Unlike many of the MCU heroes, Moon Knight isn’t afraid to get blood on his fists. One of the reasons that the Moon Knight series didn’t quite live up to Feige’s claims is that they weren’t allowed to show much bloodshed (and the giant random Kaiju finale battle, but that’s another conversation). In the comics, the reason Moon Knight wears white is specifically so that his enemies can see him coming, and fear their inevitable doom. If he feels they deserve it, Moon Knight will kill his enemies, an act that is only encouraged by Khonshu.

Related

‘Echo’ Earns Its TV-MA Rating in One Episode

Turns out, this all you need to be Disney+’s first TV-MA series.

It’s Not Too Late for ‘Moon Knight’ To Become a Marvel Spotlight Project

Such unforgiving vigilantism necessitates the TV-MA rating, creating a much grittier atmosphere, like that provided for The Punisher or Daredevil on Netflix. Just as Echo attempts to retain the tonality of the Marvel Netflix series, Moon Knight more than deserves the same opportunity — and there’s still time. Moon Knight debuted in March 2022, before the implementation of Marvel Spotlight, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t still be added to the Spotlight banner. Since it exists on Disney+, Marvel Studios could easily go back in and retroactively add the Spotlight intro. And if we ever get a Season 2 (please, Feige) it could follow Echo’s path and take a gritter approach, warranting a TV-MA rating and allowing Moon Knight to seek vengeance the way we were initially promised he would. Moon Knight is a character with such an intriguing, complicated, and unique history, and he deserves his time in the Spotlight.

Moon Knight is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

Watch on Disney+