The Disney+ platform opened a new avenue for the MCU, but not all these stories belonged on the small screen. Disney+ launched in 2019, giving the studio its own platform in the streaming wars and a place to develop its own television content. Unsurprisingly, Marvel Studios was a big part of that, with series like WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier kicking off a television branch of the cinematic universe.
While there was a lot of excitement about seeing new stories and heroes explored in a more in-depth television format, not all the shows were smash hits. Now that Marvel has insisted they will be releasing less Disney+ content going forward, it is clear that one of these shows really should have been a movie all along.
Moon Knight would have worked better as a movie
Moon Knight was one of the first series announced as part of the new Disney+ slate. The news was met with great excitement, as the character was one that fans had been waiting to see get the live-action treatment for a long time. In the comics, Moon Knight's origins center on a mercenary named Marc Spector who is imbued with the powers of an Egyptian god while also dealing with his own multiple personalities.
The show came together with a lot of excitement, especially with the casting of Oscar Isaac in the lead role. While there were plenty of fans of the series, Moon Knight was also seen as a bit of a missed opportunity. Looking back on the series now, it is clear that this project had too much potential for the small screen.
The Marvel shows certainly leaned into their Disney budgets, being able to deliver a scale and talent that was impressive for even the streaming era of television. However, there were still limits to how big the show could be, and this really showed in Moon Knight. The series always felt like it was ramping up to something big, but was never quite able to get there.
The television storytelling was also not the best platform for the show. Marc Spector is a complex character, and the mythology surrounding his superpowers was certainly worthy of a deep dive. However, the luxury of having more time actually worked against the series. It took too long to get moving and slowed down as it reached its climax, robbing the story of its exciting elements.
A movie would have allowed Moon Knight to deliver a kind of big-budget Indiana Jones adventure movie within the Marvel universe, with fun set pieces that we didn't get from the show. It would have made for a fast-paced ride that could have cut a lot of the padding that dragged the showdown.
While the reduced runtime of a movie might seem detrimental for allowing its main character to be developed, it actually would have made the story more focused on its protagonists. The show certainly put Marc/Moon Knight at the center, but also gave more time to the supporting characters than was needed. By having a more concise solo story, Moon Knight could have emerged as a standout character in the new era of the MCU.
The MCU needed a movie like Moon Knight
While it is clear Moon Knight needed a big-screen story to really flourish, it is also true that the MCU needed a movie like Moon Knight at this time. The cinematic universe was heading into a new era after Avengers: Endgame, where they had to rebuild following the loss of some of its biggest characters. More than five years later, the struggles of this are quite well known.
Indeed, a Moon Knight movie could not have turned everything around for the studio; it would have been an important success at the time. Looking at Phases 4 and 5, Shang-Chi and Eternals were the solo movies for new characters. The rest of the new MCU characters, like She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, were introduced in Disney+ shows.
At a time when the MCU needed new characters to step up, these promising characters were stuck on the small screen, where a large portion of the Marvel fans weren't even seeing their shows. Having Moon Knight break out as a new character in his own movie would have given the future of the MCU a much brighter look.
A big question has arisen about how much a new, obscure superhero can bring in an audience in this era of greater "superhero fatigue". However, the MCU still had some solid audience loyalty at the time, and a star like Oscar Isaac would have really helped to draw people in. A great movie could have put the character at the head of the MCU's roster. Instead, we have not seen Moon Knight in three years.