Everything You Need to Know About Marvel’s Next Series, Moon Knight

Moon Knight is almost here. After first appearing in Marvel comics 47 years ago — in “Werewolf by Night” #32, to be precise — the titular mercenary and earthly avatar of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his first live-action appearance. (Moon Knight has no attachment to the current MCU by the way, it’s completely standalone.) Oscar Isaac — of Dune, Star Wars, and Ex Machina fame — plays Moon Knight, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, which gives his dealings with Khonshu a twisted spin. On one hand, Moon Knight draws incredible powers, from super-healing to super-strength, thanks to the Egyptian lunar god. At the same time, his mental health further struggles as he does Khonshu’s (violent) bidding.

“We have fascination and reverence for Egyptian history, as does the world,” Marvel Studios president and Moon Knight executive producer Kevin Feige said in a production diary. “So, it was very exciting to take Moon Knight’s origin story, which is grounded in Egyptology, and infuse it with globetrotting adventure, intensity and mystery. The edgy, dark themes of Moon Knight and the exploration of the unique character add another dimension to the MCU’s storytelling.”

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Moon Knight creator, head writer and executive producer Jeremy Slater (The Umbrella Academy) added: “At its heart, Moon Knight was designed as a mystery: Who is Steven Grant, and why does he keep dreaming about another life as a globe-trotting mercenary? And what happens when elements from those dreams start invading his waking hours? Steven’s journey for answers leads him to a hidden world of gods and monsters, and a battle that could shape the future of the MCU. Our team took a lot of inspiration from classic adventure films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the goal of telling a relentlessly entertaining story filled with unexpected twists and turns.”

With that, here’s everything you need to know about Moon Knight.

Moon Knight release date and time

The first episode of Moon Knight is out Wednesday, March 30 at 12:30pm IST / 12am PT on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar globally. As you can tell, the Moon Knight release date in India is same as the worldwide release date.

One new episode will follow weekly at the same time on Wednesdays for the entire six-episode run. On Disney+ Hotstar, Moon Knight is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. It’s the second MCU series, after Hawkeye, to be offered in Malayalam.

How to watch Moon Knight in India?

As I’ve already noted, Moon Knight will be on Disney+ Hotstar. You will need a subscription, it’s not free to watch.

Since the new Disney+ Hotstar plans — in effect since September — don’t restrict content choices by language, you can watch Moon Knight in any language no matter which plan you’re on.

The only difference is the screen size, video resolution, and audio quality. With Disney+ Hotstar Mobile (Rs. 499 per year), you can only watch on mobile devices in HD. With Disney+ Hotstar Super (Rs. 899 per year), you’re still limited to HD video, but on any device you want. If you want to watch Moon Knight in 4K Dolby Vision and with Dolby Atmos audio, you’ll need Disney+ Hotstar Premium (Rs. 1,499 per year).

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Moon Knight episodes

There are six episodes in total on Moon Knight. Each of them will run for about 40–50 minutes, it has been revealed. You can download all Moon Knight episodes on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar apps for Android and iOS.

Here’s the full release schedule for Moon Knight:

 

Oscar Isaac, Mohamed Diab on the Moon Knight sets
Photo Credit: Gabor Kotschy/Marvel Studios

Moon Knight cast

The new Marvel series is led by Isaac as Steven Grant / Marc Spector / Moon Knight. Grant is a mild-mannered man who works at the National Art Gallery gift shop in London. Owing to his mental health troubles, Grant shares his body with former mercenary and Khonshu’s ruthless avatar Marc Spector.

“What’s so amazing about this character, and the mythology around it, is that it’s so rich,” Isaac said. “Our job was to put a lens on the things that we found the most interesting or that had the most dramatic juice while taking the mental health aspect about it incredibly seriously. I really wanted to do a character study, a point of view experience, so you’re not sitting back and just watching the story unfold, you are within the eyes of Steven and experiencing this thing that’s happening to him. And it’s quite terrifying.”

Ethan Hawke — best known for Training Day and the Before trilogy — plays the Moon Knight villain, cult leader and religious zealot Arthur Harrow, who is obsessed with the Egyptian god Ammit.

“If you’re playing a villain you have to erase that word from your brain, and you have to see the universe from their point of view,” Hawke explained. “I find it really interesting when you think about cult leaders throughout history, those megalomaniacs very often start out extremely idealistic and then the idealism takes a hit or they compromise themselves in some way. Most people who commit terrible crimes in this world don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘I’m the bad guy.’ They have their reasons, and [the road to] hell is paved with their reasons. So as an actor I had to come up with Harrow’s reasons and make them as rational and sane and compelling as possible.”

May Calamawy (Ramy) steps into the MCU as archeologist Layla El-Faouly who is also Spector’s wife, Isaac has revealed in interviews. Calamawy said: “She’s aware of Marc’s secrets with Khonshu but she’s discovering other secrets as the audience is also discovering them. So we meet her at a point where her partner has disappeared for several months and when she sees him again, she’s meeting a different person, Steven.”

May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly in Moon Knight
Photo Credit: Gabor Kotschy/Marvel Studios

“The most fulfilling aspect of making Moon Knight for us was working with Oscar Isaac, May Calamawy and Ethan Hawke,” directors Benson and Moorhead said. “To witness Oscar’s perfectionism firsthand was an honour, to see May bring so much heart and humanity to this story was inspiring, and to learn from the wisdom, work ethic and performance mastery of Ethan Hawke everyday was an experience we’d only ever dreamed of.”

Karim El Hakim and F. Murray Abraham round out the Moon Knight main cast as the on-set performer and the voice of Khonshu, respectively.

Beyond that, we have the late Gaspard Ulliel (Saint Laurent) as an Egypt-based antiques collector Anton Mogart, Lucy Thackeray (Surge) as Grant’s boss Donna, Rey Lucas (The First) as Spector’s father Elias Spector, and Fernanda Andrade (The Devil Inside) as Marc’s mother Wendy Spector.

Additionally, there are roles on Moon Knight for Ann Akinjirin, David Ganly, Antonia Salib, Saffron Hocking, Sofia Asir, Ahmed Dash, Hazem Ehab, Amr Al-Qadi, Zizi Dagher, Sofia Danu, Karim El-Hakim, Shaun Scott, and Díana Bermudez.

Moon Knight trailer

The first — and as yet only — trailer for Moon Knight was released in mid-January in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, just as the show will be offered in India. It teased the title character’s past and emergence, as London gift shop employee Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) discovers that he is living more than one life, before being pulled into a deadly mystery involving Egyptian gods.

Then in mid-February, Marvel unveiled a 30-second spot (below) during the 2022 Super Bowl. Since then, we have had several half-minute and minute-long clips and teasers: “Secret Agent”, “Contact Lens”, “Choice”, “Summon the Suit”, “Protect”, “Skills”, “Here We Go”, and one simply titled “Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight”.

Other than that, Marvel Studios has also given us a couple of behind-the-scenes Moon Knight featurettes.

Moon Knight synopsis

When Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life, he discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.

Moon Knight review

As has been the case with every MCU Disney+ series so far, the first reviews for Moon Knight are expected ahead of the series premiere. The exact date and time are not known though.

Moon Knight season 2?

“I dream and wish for a film,” Moon Knight director Diab said when asked about the future. “But with Marvel, the way they play it, it’s not like you graduate into a film. You can go into a film and come to a TV show and go back … It’s like a crazy world. Even with the successful shows, like WandaVision, they’re not doing season 2. She jumped into a film. Maybe she’s going to come back or not. I don’t know. And that’s exciting.”

The director added, “But I can tell you for a fact, I can see [Moon Knight] in the next 10 years, not just the next film. He’s a very interesting character. He’s probably the most interesting character for any actor to play. Oscar is doing a great job. People already like him, even from the trailer. I think the show’s going to resonate with people, so I see him staying for a long time.”

That’s more than what Hawke offered when he was asked about Moon Knight season 2: “The good news is that it’s possibly both. [Moon Knight] lives and breathes on its own merits. It functions as a limited series — and if people are engaged and excited by it then it could be the origin story of a larger thing.”

Marvel Studios is currently remaining tight-lipped, but hopefully, Moon Knight episode 6 — the season finale — will offer some clues as to what’s next.

Moon Knight poster

Here’s the official poster for Moon Knight from Disney and Marvel Studios:

The official Moon Knight poster
Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios