Disney Plus series Moon Knight might be part of official Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, but it’s comfortably the most standalone streaming series we’ve seen from the franchise yet, which was something that initially drew in director Mohamed Diab, along with stars Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke.
Previous episodic exclusives WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye were all connected to previous MCU movies and featured plenty of well-known characters, but Moon Knight doesn’t have any of that. Instead, the show is telling a story on its own terms, and as a result the adventures of Marc Spector are freer than most Marvel-backed projects to deviate from the standard template.
In an interview with The Wrap, Diab explained how ensuring Moon Knight operated independently was one of the best things about working on the instant fan favorite.
“The best thing I would say that I was given the opportunity to make it a standalone project, a project that is not connected to the MCU as much as possible. There’s no references. And a standalone project when it comes to the way it looks. A lot of people are giving me the comment that when they see the pilot, if there was no Marvel logo, you wouldn’t know that this is a Marvel show, which is something I’m so proud of.
And I think it worked for the show and worked for Marvel. That’s why after 13 years Marvel is [still a] success. When everyone thinks, “Okay, this is the year of the superhero fatigue,” that they know how to reinvent themselves. And I think Moon Knight and the whole world that we created is something that is a testament to that.”
We might only be one episode in, but Moon Knight is already being lauded as a breath of fresh air for the MCU, something that was entirely by design.