Moon Knight: The gift and curse of the Super Bowl trailer

The Moon Knight trailers have shown a lot of promise, but could they suggest some disappointments as well.

When Marvel Studios announced that Moon Knight was coming to Disney Plus, this writer was ecstatic. The titular hero is one of Marvel Comics’ most interesting characters. He has layers that make him fun, interesting, frightening.

All of this becomes more evident for fans unfamiliar with the comic books whenever new footage or images of the live-action version in the upcoming series are released.

The recent images released tease a truly promising adaptation, as did the recently-released “Big Game TV Spot” from the Super Bowl. However, for all the excellence, this writer has some concerns.

Before we get started, let this be said. This will not be an article where the writer nit-picks things for no reason. Honestly, everything about this show seems to look promising. This piece will look at some things and question why they may seem good now, but could end up being bad (or vice-versa).  Nevertheless, nothing is perfect. Let’s begin.

Marc Spector and his personalities

The Moon Knight trailers have shown us that both Steven Grant and Marc Spector’s personalities exist. That was this writer’s biggest takeaway. His dissociative identity disorder has become a huge part of Moon Knight’s story. Each of his identities lead him to act in different ways and allow him into different parts of the world.

Marc Spector is a Marine. The one who was resurrected by Khonshu and does the fighting. Steven Grant is a millionaire socialite, which gets him into parties (think Bruce Wayne). Jake Lockley is the hardworking cab driver, where he gets his more seedy information – things that people may not think he hears. And then there’s Mr. Knight: The leader of his flock and the one in the white suit. Hopefully it will be explained later in the show.

Gift and the curse

Marvel Comics fans will enjoy the multiple personalities and the nods to the comics that come with them, especially being able to see it all happen in real time. Unfortunately, this may become confusing to viewers. They don’t know much about Moon Knight yet. And, as of now, we don’t know what makes him switch from one personality to the next. What if it isn’t done smoothly? That last part is key. If he just switches out of nowhere with no trigger, it could come off odd and, quite frankly, too goofy.

The Moon Knight’s vestments

The Moon Knight vestments (that’s what he calls them) seemed weird to this writer. A lot of it had to do with what he knows from the comic book. The idea of the suit looking like a mummy makes sense as it adds to the Khoshu lore. Plus, this did happen in issue No. 3 of Warren Ellis’ Moon Knight. Furthermore, the way it forms around him is functional. Having to get to your lair or a phone booth to change into your uniform seems annoying. And, as much as it may pain this writer to say this, it looks cool. The gauze wrapped around Steven like armor and it was pulled off smoothly.

Gift and the curse

As good as the effects of Moon Knight “suiting up” looked, is this a permanent fixture of the “suiting up” process? Will all of Moon Knight’s vestments (that’s including Mr. Knight) form around him like this? What about his weapons and utility items? Will they pop up like this as well? It may be functional, but how will the audience receive it? Some may love it while others call it cheesy. Another thing we’ll have to wait and see.

Moon Knight can’t be too goofy

Yes, Marc Spector gets his powers from a lesser-known Egyptian God. A God that has multiple duties that has his avatar doing all sorts of random tasks. So, yes, that in itself is easy to make fun of. In fact, it should be. It’s silly. The problem will come when things get too out of control.

The trailer showed Steven Grant cowering on the floor in the elevator after seeing a reflection, falling off his bed because he tied his leg to it, and more. This isn’t too unlike the Disney Plus shows we’ve seen thus far. Each of them have goofy or slapstick moments. That’s to be expected. Nevertheless, they can’t go over the top in this project.

Gift and the curse

This writer is optimistic when it comes to the amount of buffoonery we’ll see in Moon Knight. He’d go as far as to say these previews are for the viewers who know nothing about the Lunar Legionnaire. The first episode may start with Steven Grant being unsure of himself, but it will end on a more serious note. This will not be as fun as Hawkeye and the characters in it were. Look for this to get very dark and quickly. After all, Kevin Feigie did reveal to Empire Online:

"“…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. There’s a tonal shift. This is a different thing. This is Moon Knight.”"

What do you think, readers? Are you concerned or is everything looking great? Let us know in the comments below.