Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Says ‘Moon Knight’ Presents a ‘Tonal Shift’: ‘We’re Not Pulling Back’
When Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Defenders, and the other Netflix shows became non-canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans worried Disney wanted to scrub any edge from the MCU. However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said that the Disney+ Moon Knight TV series would bring Marvel a “tonal shift.” Moon Knight actor Oscar Isaac agrees that while it’s a risky move, they want to push the “experimental quality” to a “huge scale.”
Marvel Studios Head Kevin Feige said ‘Moon Knight’ is ‘brutal’
While characters like Spider-Man do tackle heavier topics, they do not dominate the majority of their stories.
However, one of the central themes for Moon Knight is the intense struggle of Marc Spector, his dissociative identity disorder personalities, and Egyptian god Khonshu using him for his own goals, no matter what that entails.
“He’s brutal,” Feige told Empire. “It’s been fun to work with Disney+ and see the boundaries shifting on what we’re able to do.”
The Moon Knight trailer showed Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector laying into enemies and villains like Werewolf by Night. While they thought about “pulling back,” Feige said they wanted to push the envelope with actors Isaac and Ethan Hawke.
Kevin Feige said the Disney+ show presents a ‘tonal shift’ for the MCU
The Moon Knight comics feature more mature stories than many Marvel heroes. Feige wanted to adapt the Marvel Comics hero right.
“There are moments [in the series] when Moon Knight is wailing on another character, and it is loud and brutal, and the knee-jerk reaction is, ‘We’re gonna pull back on this, right?’ No. We’re not pulling back,” Feige continued. “There’s a tonal shift. This is a different thing. This is Moon Knight.”
While the upcoming Disney+ MCU series features a darker tone, Oscar Isaac admitted the riskiness of the move.
Oscar Isaac said a ‘Moon Knight’ movie would have more pressure on it
Oscar Isaac (Star Wars and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) plays Marc Spector, aka Steven Grant, aka Moon Knight. In the Moon Knight trailers, the hero faces off against Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke). The Moon Knight actor also spoke up about the content in the Moon Knight TV show.
“It is risky. He’s an obscure hero, and the things we’re dealing with are very different. But because it’s a limited series, rather than a movie,” Isaac admitted to Empire about the Moon Knight series, “the pressure isn’t there to make sure the opening weekend is massive.”
With less pressure to match Marvel movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home or Eternals, Moon Knight could do its own thing.
“We’re able to take more risks, to bring that experimental quality on a huge scale,” Isaac said.
And on the topic of Eternals, several rumors suspect that Moon Knight and Dane Whitman, aka Black Knight, might even meet up soon. The grittier heroes of Marvel could find themselves teaming up sometime in the future.
